The ACLU Takes Boulder to Court Over No Camping Law

We've been calling on Boulder, Colorado to repeal its short-sighted "no camping" ordinance for months. Yesterday, the ACLU officially joined the fray when it filed a lawsuit against the city on behalf of a homeless man named David Madison. Last November, Madison tried to get into a local homeless shelter but found that it was full. So he slept outside, where it was 11 degrees, and used a sleeping bag. He was ticketed for illegal camping.

The law says that people sleeping outside can't use shelter of any sort, including tents, sleeping bags or blankets. Someone could conceivably wear lots of layers and not be bothered, but this is Colorado we're talking about, and it gets cold. "Our case highlights both the absurdity and the cruelty of Boulder's ordinance," said ACLU cooperating attorney Mark Walta. "Because the frost-covered sleeping bag was deemed to be 'shelter,' the Municipal Court said our client was violating the law. If our client had just slept in his clothes, he might have gotten hypothermia, but he would have been found not guilty."

What makes this ordinance so unbelievably predatory is the fact that Boulder has only a winter shelter (it's closed during the summer), and that shelter has just 160 beds, while the city's homeless population is estimated to be well over 600. They have not been given any other options. In a letter (pdf) to the Boulder City Council, the ACLU points out that the blankets and sleeping bags that turn these homeless people into criminals have often been given to them by shelter staffers who must reluctantly turn them away because there are no more beds.

It's no surprise then that the city has issued 1,600 tickets in the last four years. Stupid aspect #2: primary punishment for the ticket is a fine. If someone had money to pay a fine, do the courts really think that person would be sleeping outdoors in freezing temperatures? So, unsurprisingly, very few of the tickets are paid.

Instead, the majority of those ticketed fail to show up for court hearings and warrants are issued for them. When they're apprehended, they are given two days in jail — one for the camping and one for the no-show. Since 2006, taxpayers have paid for well over 1,000 nights in jail (pdf) for people ticketed for sleeping outdoors. When homeless people do show up to court, they're generally given eight to 12 hours of community services (for the very service organizations they frequent).

Send Boulder's decision-makers a note asking them to repeal the no camping ordinance today!

Thanks to commenter Erik Maulbetsch, who works for the ACLU of Colorado, for the tip.

Photo credit: °Florian