Removing homeless encampments and telling residents to go elsewhere not only would fail to solve the issue of homelessness, it would be illegal.
That is the crux of an issue near Fort Vancouver High School. As detailed in a Columbian article, residents have raised concerns about an encampment opposite a fence from the school’s athletic fields.
Alcoa Little League also uses the fields, and league president Justin Cvitkovich told The Columbian that parents are reluctant to register their children for the program because of the encampment. The league has been canceled the past two years because of COVID restrictions, and the 2022 season now is endangered. “It’s kind of devastating because it’s been a rough year for kids anyways,” Cvitkovich said.
Indeed. We can understand the frustration felt by neighbors and parents in the area, but a 2018 court ruling largely ties the hands of local officials and law enforcement unless people from the encampment are engaged in illegal activity.
Four years ago, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Martin v. Boise that cities may not enforce anti-camping ordinances if there are not enough shelter beds in the area. The ruling applies to the nine states in the 9th Circuit jurisdiction, including Washington. The decision was based on the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment in the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“As long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter,” reads the ruling, in part.
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in the case, leaving the ruling intact. In its appeal to the court, the city of Boise argued, “the creation of a de facto constitutional right to live on sidewalks and in parks will cripple the ability of more than 1,600 municipalities in the Ninth Circuit to maintain the health and safety of their communities.”
That is the situation at which we have arrived, with cities having limited power to clean up public spaces and remove homeless campers. Whether or not they agree with the court decision, city leaders face costly repercussions if they violate the law.
Last year, the city of Boise reached a $1.3 million settlement in the Martin case, which began with a 2009 lawsuit; the city agreed to put most of that money toward housing solutions. But last month, homeless Idahoans erected tents outside the Idaho Capitol building in Boise to draw attention to housing issues, demonstrating that homelessness is not solely the purview of Democratic-run states.
All of this is relevant to the situation near Fort Vancouver High School — and other locations throughout Clark County. Vancouver Public Schools officials say they cannot do anything about the encampment because it is not on district property. Police say they have not received reports of threatening or harmful activity related to the camp.
Elected officials should have more power to bolster the safety and cleanliness of their cities by removing troublesome encampments. Enclaves can be dangerous not only for nearby residents but for unhoused people while diminishing the livability of a city. But unless the courts determine otherwise, city officials have limited capacity for removing homeless encampments.
Until enough housing and shelters are in place to mitigate the issue and provide dignified living for all our residents, the issue will continue to be a difficult one.
