Legally illegal
A judge ruled Denver can criminalize homelessness, but voters can respond with compassion
All metropolitan cities grapple with homelessness. It’s a harsh truth many families and communities must endure, but Denver’s approach continues to be insufficient.
Just this month, a 2019 ruling that had declared Denver’s urban camping ban unconstitutional was reversed. Denver city attorneys celebrate their victory while people experiencing homelessness felt the loss.
The camping ban ordinance was first drafted by former District 9 Councilman Albus Brooks. In 2011, a one- night undercover stint on 16th Street Mall inspired him to generate the ban. Homeless advocacy groups and ACLU Colorado immediately opposed the ordinance.
In practice, the ban is a city- sanctioned attack on people who are houseless and seek refuge in tents across the city.
Some have said that police officers have enforced the ban compassionately. But there is no humane way to take people’s only belongings, ticket them, order them to move along or incarcerate them. Being unhoused shouldn’t be a crime. Encampment sweeps during a pandemic are clearly unethical and should maybe be considered criminal. This recent freeze should remind us of the severe weather conditions people will be facing on the streets.
Tristia Bauman, a senior attorney with the Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty, wrote to Mayor Michael Hancock as shelter- in- place orders began in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. She urged him to halt any planned encampment sweeps due to public health reasons.
“Policies that punish acts of survival and displace unhoused people from public space without offering any safer alternatives exacerbate these public health problems … Numerous studies have shown that communities actually save money and improve health outcomes by providing housing and services to those in need, rather than endlessly cycling them from one location to another,” Bauman wrote.
City officials have proposed solutions like designated tent spaces and funding a new shelter in Northeast Park Hill. While useful these are still very temporary solutions. Fifty to sixty spots for social distancing tents is not enough. And shelters aren’t inclusive for all.
But the real challenge is stigma.
Changing attitudes might be the hardest obstacle to overcome. We Americans have been trained to compare our own accomplishments and property to others, and that includes those with less than us.
Solutions like tax hikes and designated encampments have been met with resistance. In July, Globeville Elyria Swansea residents rejected having a designated sanctioned camp at the Coliseum parking lot.
The most important stigma that we can reject is that people experiencing homelessness choose that life. We feed into this myth that all people living on the street are lazy.
In fact people become unhoused for various reasons including unemployment, financial hardships, disabilities, military service, untreated mental health and substance misuse. As Denverites, we have a moral obligation to each other.
Through a proposed $ 40 million annual tax increase, we have the opportunity to help provide housing. Ballot Measure 2B would increase sales taxes by 2.5 cents on a $ 10 purchase to build housing units, expand shelter beds, and improve services. Taxpayers must carry this burden together, just as collectively we take care of our roads, pay our law enforcement and first responders. Now we can care for each other.
But to be an effective solution this increase needs to fund permanent housing, a one- stop- shop for resources, treatment programs and job skills training, and spaces where people will be treated with dignity and respect.
Denver needs not just affordable units but long- term transitional housing. Since the majority of unhoused people lack access to bank accounts, steady jobs, and credit, even “affordable” units are out of reach. We know a safe place to live is the first step to self- fulfillment. Housing comes first, and Denver must create housing that is available to our most at- risk residents.
If we can’t support others with basic human rights, we have failed as a community.
Let’s look beyond the jarring conditions at camps — feces, rodents and disease — often highlighted by the media and supporters of the camping ban, and let’s focus on the leaders who have allowed these symptoms to fester for years. To generate social responsibility and economic diversity we need to hold our entire city to a higher standard. Not just developers or city officials, but each other also.
The question of the camping ban’s constitutionality is headed to the Colorado Supreme Court. Hopefully, the final decision will favor unhoused folks, reducing the weight they carry as they try to survive without shelter.
In the meantime, let’s embrace our neighbors especially those without homes.