Date set for camping ban trial

Colorado ACLU’S lawsuit scheduled for five days in August of next year

A trial date has been set for a high-profile lawsuit that seeks to challenge Boulder’s camping ban.

According to an Oct. 26 court filing, Boulder District Judge Robert Gunning has scheduled a fiveday trial during the week of Aug. 12 in Boulder District Court, 1777 Sixth St.

The scheduling of the trial date comes after plaintiffs sought a partial judgment on the pleadings of the case earlier this year. The defendants, the city of Boulder and Police Chief Maris Herold, opposed that action. The city filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last year, but it was denied.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado first filed the lawsuit, which alleges that Boulder’s camping and tent bans violate a provision in the Colorado Constitution prohibiting “cruel and unusual punishment,” in May 2022. The lawsuit also asks Boulder to stop enforcing the bans in certain situations, such as when unhoused people are unable to access indoor shelter.

Cases in other jurisdictions, such as the 2018 Martin v. Boise ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, established that camping bans represented “cruel and unusual punishment” and, under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, could not be enforced against unhoused individuals who lacked access to other shelter.

Over the past 18 months, plaintiffs on the ACLU lawsuit have leveled numerous complaints at the city of Boulder and the Boulder Police Department, and the city has denied a number of those claims while admitting others were true.

For example, Boulder admitted that the city’s unhoused do

not always have options for indoor shelter and that there are not adequate indoor shelter options for all unhoused residents in the city every night. But the city has denied that its camping ban violates the Colorado Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Numerous plaintiffs have also joined and left the lawsuit since it was filed. Homelessness advocacy organization Feet Forward and its founder, Jennifer Livovich, initially signed on as plaintiffs, but Livovich withdrew in March and asked Feet Forward’s board of directors to remove the organization from the lawsuit as well. She resigned after the board of directors voted to remain on the lawsuit against her wishes.

Lisa Sweeney-miran, executive director of Haven Ridge, an organization supporting mothers experiencing homelessness, was also a plaintiff, but she withdrew from the lawsuit when she was appointed to the Police Oversight Panel in February.