ACLU Sues Spokane Over Anti-Public Camping Ordinances After US Supreme Court Ruling

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in state court against Spokane, Washington, on Aug. 1, claiming that local anti-public camping ordinances unfairly punish homeless people for being homeless. Spokane, located in the eastern part of Washington state, had a total population of about 230,000 in 2022, according to U.S. Census data. The city was home to almost 2,400 homeless people in 2023, up 36 percent over the year before, according to court papers. Laws forbidding camping, sitting, and lying down “functionally criminalize homelessness,” the ACLU said in a press release. “When people have nowhere else to rest, camping and resting outside cannot be seen as voluntary. Arresting or fining people for sleeping in public spaces only worsens our ongoing mass incarceration crisis and diverts much-needed resources from addressing the root causes of homelessness,” the organization said. “Because homelessness is not a voluntary or willful act, criminalizing homelessness is cruel and therefore unconstitutional.”...