1/22/2023
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The Spokesman-Review
KXLY
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The Spokesman-Review
Sun., Jan. 22, 2023
Fencing is installed around Camp Hope homeless encampment on Sept. 30 in Spokane. (KATHY PLONKA/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIE)
For many, the route for closing Spokane’s Camp Hope homeless encampment has long seemed clear.
In order for law enforcement to force the camp to close, shelter beds need to be available for its residents, or else officials could run afoul of the legal precedent that protects those sleeping on the sidewalk from prosecution unless shelter beds are available.
“If we have a bed to direct someone to, then we should be able to remove people out of an insidious encampment that is having an incredibly negative impact on the neighborhood and has for over a year,” Mayor Nadine Woodward said in a Thursday interview.
But the city of Spokane is arguing in federal court that Camp Hope can be legally closed regardless of available shelter space, while also leaving the door open for a potential direct challenge to Martin v. Boise.
In October, amid threats by both Spokane police Chief Craig Meidl and then-Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich to close the camp and arrest those who refused to leave, three Camp Hope residents, Jewels Helping Hands and Disability Rights Washington filed a complaint in federal court asking a judge to intervene.
In December, the judge issued a temporary restraining order, preserving the status quo while the case continues.
The city of Spokane submitted its formal response to the suit on Monday, in part asking the judge to lift the restraining order.
In the filings, attorneys representing the city argue that the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrongly decided Martin v. Boise, the 2018 case in which the court ruled that it is unconstitutional to bring criminal sanctions against the homeless for sleeping outside unless shelter beds are available, as well as Johnson v. Grants Pass, the 2022 case that broadened these protections. These decisions should be overruled by either the 9th Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys wrote.
It’s unclear if the Supreme Court will take up the case. In 2019, the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in Martin v. Boise, allowing the precedent to remain the law of the land in the 9th Circuit, which includes Washington.
The city of Spokane contracted with law firm Evans, Craven and Lackie for $50,000 to represent the municipality in the lawsuit. James King, one of the attorneys who wrote the response, declined to comment on the filing and directed questions to city spokesman Brian Coddington, who also declined to comment.
In an interview Thursday, Woodward supported the idea of overturning Martin v. Boise but did not go so far as to say the city would take a lead role in that fight.
“I would love the Supreme Court to take that up,” she said.
Even with those protections on the books, however, the city argues that it can force the closure of Camp Hope regardless of available shelter beds without running afoul of Martin v. Boise. This is the case, attorneys argue, because “there is no indication in the record that any resident, including any plaintiff, would be arrested or subjected to any criminal sanction, directly or indirectly.”
The city police chief and former county sheriff did make broad statements about arresting those who refused to leave.
Jeffry Finer, an attorney representing Jewels Helping Hands in the lawsuit, said the city’s filing appears to refer to threats to arrest specific people.
“There have been some heavy-handed actions, but I think they mean no one has been threatened with arrest to their face,” Finer said. “That’s probably true.”
So long as no criminal sanctions are leveled, the protections of Martin v. Boise couldn’t be invoked, attorneys for the city appear to be arguing.
Rather than arrest lingering campers, the city of Spokane would work to close the camp through an abatement process with judicial oversight, attorneys wrote.
Further, attorneys for the city argue that Martin v. Boise only restricts the enforcement of anti-camping ordinances on all public land. Targeted, narrow restrictions of certain areas such as an encampment are allowable, the filing states.
The case may be complicated by the camp’s location on state land, as opposed to a city park or sidewalk. After the tent city initially popped up in front of City Hall in late 2021 as a protest of a lack of low-barrier shelter beds it moved to an undeveloped plot of land owned by the state Department of Transportation, where it remains to this day. Low-barrier beds are those that impose few restrictions on guests.
State officials have insisted that the camp must be closed, but not until appropriate shelter could be found for its residents.
For Finer, the absence of an argument in Monday’s filings that the camp can be closed because the city has enough space to house its residents is a sign that the capacity does not exist.
“Martin says you have to have adequate capacity for the unsheltered homeless,” Finer said. “No one’s going to go in front of a judge and make up numbers, and that’s why I think they didn’t make an argument (about the numbers).”
Woodward said Thursday that the city would not immediately move to close Camp Hope if the city wins the lawsuit and the temporary injunction is lifted. She added that, if the city loses, it will appeal.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.
Reporter Orion Donovan-Smith contributed to this report.
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KXLY
Posted: January 21, 2023 4:29 PM Updated: January 21, 2023 5:59 PM by Brontë Sorotsky
SPOKANE, Wash. — Programs across Washington helping domestic abuse survivors have been severely underfunded in the last few years, and now the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence says a 23 percent budget cut in state funding could go into effect in July.
Now, domestic violence centers across the state, including the Inland Northwest, are hoping local lawmakers will step in to help.
Domestic violence support facilities, like the YWCA, get a majority of their funding from federal, state, and local sources. The organization’s Chief Executive Officer says this has her concerned for the future.
“They’re services that cannot go away,” says Jeanette Hauck, Chief Executive Officer for the YWCA of Spokane.
The YWCA provides domestic violence support services, safe shelter for people fleeing violence from their partners, community outreach and so much more. Hauck says she’s worried not just for the YWCA, but other domestic violence services in the area as well.
“It’s not only our impact here at the YWCA, but when you make this change at the state level, you’re going to impact Lutheran Community Services, Northwest Justice Project, and a number of organizations in our community,” Hauck said. “The impact will be significant.”
The YWCA receives 80 percent of all funding from federal, state and local sources. Hauck says the impact of these cuts for them could lead to a loss of almost $300,000.
“It will have a significant negative impact on our programming if we were unable to in the next couple of years, find ways to replace that funding, or hopefully the state will be successful in funding those dollars,” Hauck said.
Those dollars will help someone fleeing domestic violence seek immediate help.
“So when someone who is fleeing domestic violence comes to the YWCA Spokane, they need services in the moment, and they need someone who can help them find shelter,” Hauck said.
Now, the YWCA and many other domestic violence services are calling on lawmakers, for their help.