In Anchorage, the ruling by a federal appeals court means that the city will continue to be barred from dismantling homeless camps on public land without risking legal challenges.
Tracy Lynn Thompson walks through the homeless camp located between the Glenn Highway and Davis Park in Mountain View on Monday, July 3, 2023. a pivotal case out of Oregon that has major implications on local homelessness policy across the Western United States, including in Anchorage.Wednesday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it would not rehear Johnson v.
In Anchorage, where there are currently no indoor shelter beds available, the ruling means that the city will continue to be barred from dismantling homeless camps on public land without risking legal challenges, said Ruth Botstein, the legal director for the ACLU of Alaska. “The main thing that the 9th Circuit did today is reaffirm that Martin v. Boise and Grants Pass are still good law, and they still apply in Alaska,” Botstein said. “The municipality continues to be under an obligation to follow those principles.”The ACLU has twice sued the city this summer to halt the destruction of camps in Anchorage parks, including last week.
In a statement, the administration of Mayor Dave Bronson said its legal team was reviewing Wednesday’s decision “to evaluate what it may mean for Anchorage.”The Grants Pass case and a landmark 2018 federal court ruling out of Boise, Idaho, have together shaped the way cities large and small have responded to a mounting homelessness crisis in the West. Anchorage is one among many cities that aren’t legally allowed to dismantle camps when adequate shelter space isn’t available.
The courts have been clear that cities that do have indoor shelter space to offer unhoused people can clear camps, said Botstein. But if there’s no alternative available, destroying camps is tantamount to “criminalizing them for being unhoused, for being indigent.”
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
9th Circuit conservatives blast homelessness ruling, say issue is 'paralyzing' U.S. WestSome of the most powerful conservative judges in the U.S. took aim at the idea that homeless people with nowhere else to go have a right to sleep in public.
Read more »
9th Circuit conservatives blast homelessness ruling, say issue is ‘paralyzing’ US WestSome of the nation's most powerful conservative judges took collective aim Wednesday at the idea that homeless people with nowhere else to go have a right to sleep in public.
Read more »
9th Circuit Court declines to rehear ruling that upheld homeless right to sleep outside when no shelter space availableA federal appeals court Wednesday refused to rehear a three-judge panel’s ruling that prohibited the city of Grants Pass, Oregon, from criminally punishing homeless people who sleep in public places when they have nowhere else to go.
Read more »
9th annual Careathon presented by Duval Asphalt is FridaySince 2015, more than $1.7 million has been raised through Careathon.
Read more »
Electric utilities for Anchorage and Mat-Su install $63 million Tesla battery systemTwo Southcentral Alaska utilities have installed a giant Tesla battery system in Anchorage, which is expected to increase operational efficiency, saving an estimated $121 million over 15 years.
Read more »
Anchorage police investigate fire at elementary school playground as ‘intentionally set’Anchorage police and fire departments are investigating a fire that damaged a large piece of playground equipment at Mountain View Elementary School this week.
Read more »