The city of Grants Pass was ordered by a Josephine County court on Monday to cease all enforcement actions against homeless campers for a period of two weeks while a fresh legal challenge is thoroughly examined.
In order to prevent the city of Grants Pass from removing one of the two approved homeless camps and limiting the hours of the other, Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit last Thursday.
For the next 14 days, the city of Grants Pass is not allowed to issue citations, arrests, detentions, fines, or other forms of punishment to anyone found camping anywhere in the city, according to a temporary restraining order signed by Josephine County Circuit Judge Brandon S. Thueson.
According to the judgment, the city is also not allowed to force someone to vacate a campsite, remove a campsite (except from one that has been clearly abandoned for several days), or take any other action that would prevent someone from camping on property that has been designated as a park.
After hearing arguments for approximately an hour, the judge signed the order.
Disability Rights Oregon’s deputy legal director, Tom Swenson, commended the judge’s ruling.
According to Swenson, this emergency stop gives Grants Pass the chance to refocus its policy in a more sensible and beneficial way rather than endangering the lives of individuals with disabilities by preventing them from defending themselves against the February cold.
The Oregon Law Center and Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit on behalf of five individuals, ages 47 to 66, who suffer from conditions ranging from vertigo to arthritis.
The Grants Pass City Council has mandated that all homeless individuals remain at one of two locations within the city since August. The council voted to close the largest of the two locations, known as the J Street site, in January in an effort to further restrict camping. According to the lawsuit, city officials estimated that there were about 120 tents at the site.
Simultaneously, the council limited overnight camping to the considerably smaller residual camp on Seventh Street. According to the suit, the location can accommodate about 30 tents and is frequently crowded. Disability Rights Oregon estimates that between 300 and 400 persons camp in Grants Pass.
According to the lawsuit, closing one of the city’s two permitted camping areas was illegal under state law and was not objectively fair in terms of timing, location, and style.
According to Stenson, his advocacy group has repeatedly warned the city not to close one of the two remaining camping areas without offering a substitute. “Now that a court order is in place, there are a few more teeth and a little more oomph,” he said.
At the January emergency session, Grants Pass interim city attorney Mark Bartholomew even warned the city council against voting to close one of the camps during the day so that the city and council could thoroughly examine the implications and constitutionality of doing so.
“I hope the city makes some changes,” Swenson remarked. We’re hoping they’ll take a more constructive turn, Stenson stated. The idea isn’t that rules shouldn’t exist. The important thing is that the regulations must make sense.
The judge will probably hold another hearing to evaluate the next course of action, which would be a preliminary injunction that would prevent Grants Pass enforcement of homeless people for a longer length of time, if the city doesn’t change its policy.
The city’s attorney, Aaron Hisel, stated that he anticipates the city council will make modifications, but he would not comment further on the restraining order.
The judge’s order comes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer, which brought attention to the southern Oregon community and determined that limits on public camping in Grants Pass did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
— Maxine Bernstein writes about criminal justice and federal courts. You can contact her via [email protected], 503-221-8212, X@maxoregonian, or LinkedIn.
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