City wins ruling
Injunction is denied in lawsuit challenging homeless ordinance
The city of Houston can resume enforcing its homeless encampment ordinance after a federal judge Thursday denied a request for a preliminary injunction from four people suing the city.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt revoked a temporary restraining order that prevented the city from enforcing its ordinance, which makes it illegal to set up tents and other temporary living structures in a public place. The City Council approved the ordinance in April without a dissenting vote.
Four plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU of Texas, argue the ordinance violates constitutional protections for homeless people. City leaders, including Mayor Sylvester Turner, have said the encampments are a public health and safety issue.
In his ruling, Hoyt said the plaintiffs did not meet any of the four necessary thresholds for receiving a temporary restraining order, which would have stopped enforcement of the ordinance until the civil case is resolved. No trial date has been set, but it would likely not occur until 2019 at the earliest.
To get a temporary restraining order, the plaintiffs had to show “a substantial likelihood” of winning the case, that they
faced “immediate and irreparable harm,” that any potential harm they faced outweighs the harm of granting an injunction, and that an injunction “will not disserve the public interest.”
“While this court is indeed sympathetic to the impact that enforcement of the encampment ordinance on unsheltered homeless individuals poses, the court recognizes the city’s police powers to enact and enforce reasonable legislation that promotes the health, safety and general welfare of all Houston residents,” Hoyt wrote.
Turner ‘grateful’
In a statement, Turner applauded Hoyt’s ruling.
“I’m grateful that the judge has, for now, essentially endorsed the city’s effort to strike a balance between preserving personal freedoms of every Houstonian and eliminating threats to public health that have developed at and near encampments on public property in the center of the city,” Turner said.
Rebecca Lavergne, a local homelessness activist and volunteer, said she was “frustrated” when she found out about the decision late Thursday. She pushed back against the idea that the encampments are hazards.
“I do not think of these encampments as being dangerous,” Lavergne said. “I bring my children out there to talk to people. Will I go at nighttime? No, but I won’t go to some neighborhoods at night, either.”
Threats of harm?
Hoyt in August had granted an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order, which forced the city to halt enforcement of the ordinance. But Hoyt found no legal grounds for a subsequent preliminary injunction, which requires the plaintiffs to show a greater threat of harm.
In his ruling, Hoyt noted that city officials have said they removed 16 tons of waste from two encampment sites and spent thousands of dollars to clean areas after the ordinance went into effect.
Under the ordinance, violators are told about the new rules and receive warnings. Repeat violators can be fined up to $500 and arrested, though Houston Police Department officials have said they want to use handcuffs as a last resort.