Constitutionality of Urban Camping Ban Triggers Debate around Colorado

By Robert Davis

By declaring Denver’s urban camping ban unconstitutional, federal Judge Johnny Barajas ignited debate in cities throughout Colorado regarding how to best handle the state’s growing homeless population. 

Some cities have renewed calls to overturn their own version of the camping ban. In Boulder, the city newspaper’s editorial team wrote a scathing opinion piece about the Boulder ordinances that disallow sleeping outside with “shelter” — including tents, blankets, or sleeping bags. 

“Boulder’s continued enforcement of the camping ban is at the very least a bad look. At worst — both in a moral and a constitutional sense — it’s cruel,” wrote The Boulder Daily Camera editorial board. 

Boulder enacted its camping ban in 1980 and was one of the first cities in Colorado to do so. But now, as Colorado’s liberal stronghold, the city seems keen on rethinking the legislation.

Other cities take a softer approach to the topic than Denver. In Colorado Springs, Mayor John Suthers expressed dismay at Denver’s ability to meet the shelter requirements necessary to enforce the ban. 

“The Denver case will go up through the appellate process,” Suthers told KOAA News in January. “Those of us in Colorado Springs have long felt that there’s a real possibility that the Supreme [Court] could say you can’t enforce a camping ban unless you can offer shelter.”

That same month, Suthers said he believes the Colorado Springs’ requiring police officers to issue citations to homeless people for sleeping in public — as long as there is shelter space available — and prohibit camping near waterways would stand up in court, if challenged. 

“We do have enough shelter bed capacity, and we continue to offer people who try to camp outdoors an opportunity to go into a shelter bed,” Suthers said.

According to a report by the Colorado Springs Gazette, there were more than 650 empty shelter beds available during last March’s bomb cyclone. 

About a month before Suthers spoke about Denver’s camping ban, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Martin v. Boise, a case concerning the legality of a law from 1922 allowing Idaho’s police officers to ticket homeless people for sleeping in public spaces when no shelter space is available. 

The declination left a 9th Circuit ruling in place that says criminalizing homelessness when no shelter space is available defies the 8th Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment.    

Judge Barajas relied on the 9th Circuit’s ruling, as well, and held that Denver’s homeless shelter system is wholly unable to accommodate the city’s homeless population. 

Denver’s police department stopped enforcing the camping ban for less than two weeks following Judge Barajas’ ruling. They began reinforcing the ban after “diseased rats” were discovered in a camp gathered outside the state capitol. 

This on-again-off-again enforcement is also causing cities who haven’t passed urban camping ban legislation to renew discussion about their own ordinances. 

Loveland is one city without a camping ban. However, the city’s trespassing laws specifically prohibit setting up temporary shelters in public spaces. 

According to the city’s Homeless Strategic Plan, trespassing was the number one citation for homeless people in 2018, while most of the arrest warrants were for unpaid tickets for petty crime and missed court dates. 

Loveland has no homeless shelter, and its inclement weather shelter is in danger of closing down, according to a report by The Loveland Reporter-Herald.  

Meanwhile, cities like Centennial seem bent on keeping their urban camping ban in place, even if a legal challenge ensues. 

Centennial passed its camping ban in July 2019 after several contentious hearings involving policy supporters, homeless advocates, residents, and city council members. The city council voted unanimously in support of the legislation. 

“How can we consciously penalize people trying to survive if we as the government are not offering them alternatives?” Centennial resident Nick Swanson asked the council. 

While the debate about camping bans continues, Colorado will continue to struggle with how to deal with a lack of shelters and a rising number of individuals experiencing homelessness. ■