Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Homeless are allowed to sleep overnight in public parks and other public spaces. Supreme Court refused to hear challenge to this ruling, essentially creating a precedent. [law.justia.com]

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2019-04-01.html 

ROBERT MARTIN V. CITY OF BOISE, No. 15-35845 (9th Cir. 2019)

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Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel amended its opinion filed September 4, 2018, and reported at 902 F.3d 1031, denied a petition for panel rehearing, denied a petition for rehearing en banc on behalf of the court, and ordered that no further petitions shall be entertained. In the amended opinion, the panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the City of Boise in an action brought by six current or formerly homeless City of Boise residents who alleged that their citations under the City’s Camping and Disorderly Conduct Ordinances violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Plaintiffs sought damages for the alleged violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Two plaintiffs also sought prospective declaratory and injunctive relief precluding future enforcement of the ordinances. 
 
In 2014, after this litigation began, the ordinances were amended to prohibit their enforcement against any homeless person on public property on any night when no shelter had an available overnight space. 
 
MARTIN V. CITY OF BOISE 3 The panel first held that two plaintiffs had standing to pursue prospective relief because they demonstrated a genuine issue of material fact as to whether they faced a credible risk of prosecution on a night when they had been denied access to the City’s shelters. The panel noted that although the 2014 amendment precluded the City from enforcing the ordinances when shelters were full, individuals could still be turned away for reasons other than shelter capacity, such as for exceeding the shelter’s stay limits, or for failing to take part in a shelter’s mandatory religious programs. The panel held that although the doctrine set forth in Heck v. Humphrey, 512 U.S. 477 (1994), and its progeny precluded most — but not all — of the plaintiffs’ requests for retrospective relief, the doctrine had no application to plaintiffs’ request for an injunction enjoining prospective enforcement of the ordinances. Turning to the merits, the panel held that the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause of the Eighth Amendment precluded the enforcement of a statute prohibiting sleeping outside against homeless individuals with no access to alternative shelter. The panel held that, 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. Concurring in part and dissenting in part, Judge Owens disagreed with the majority’s opinion that Heck v. Humphrey did not bar plaintiffs’ claim for declaratory and injunctive relief. Judge Owens stated that a declaration that the city ordinances are unconstitutional and an injunction against their future enforcement would necessarily demonstrate the 4 MARTIN V. CITY OF BOISE invalidity of plaintiffs’ prior convictions. Judge Owens otherwise joined the majority in full. Concurring in the denial of rehearing en banc, Judge Berzon stated that on the merits, the panel’s opinion was limited and held only that municipal ordinances that criminalize sleeping, sitting, or lying in all public spaces, when no alternative sleeping space is available, violate the Eighth Amendment. Judge Berzon further stated that a photograph featured in Judge M. Smith’s dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc, depicting tents on a Los Angeles public sidewalk, was not part of the record, was unrelated, predated the panel’s decision and did not serve to illustrate a concrete effect of the panel’s holding. Judge Berzon stated that what the pre-Martin photograph did demonstrate was that the ordinances criminalizing sleeping in public places were never a viable solution to the homelessness problem. Dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc, Judge M. Smith, joined by Judges Callahan, Bea, Ikuta, Bennett and R. Nelson, stated that the panel severely misconstrued three areas of binding Supreme Court precedent, and that the panel's opinion created several splits with other appellate courts. Judge M. Smith further stated that the panel's holding has already begun wreaking havoc on local governments, residents, and businesses throughout the circuit. Judge M. Smith stated that the panel’s reasoning will soon prevent local governments from enforcing a host of other public health and safety laws, such as those prohibiting public defecation and urination, and that the panel’s opinion shackles the hands of public officials trying to redress the serious societal concern of homelessness. MARTIN V. CITY OF BOISE 5 Dissenting from the denial of rehearing en banc, Judge Bennett, joined by Judges Bea, Ikuta, R. Nelson, and joined by Judge M. Smith as to Part II, stated that the panel’s decision, which allows pre-conviction Eighth Amendment challenges, is wholly inconsistent with the text and tradition of the Eighth Amendment.

This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on September 4, 2018.

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https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2019-04-01.pdf?ts=1554138051https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2019-04-01.pdf?ts=1554138051

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