Hello, my name is Morgan Willis. I moved to Phoenix two years ago to study journalism at Arizona State University. By rebooting Phoenix Rising, I’ll be exploring issues that affect the downtown Phoenix community.
What is this column? Phoenix Rising is a political editorial series originally written by Downtown Devil alumnus and rabbit-lover Ryan Boyd. The purpose of this column was to explore the effects of government bureaucracy in downtown Phoenix. I’ll be continuing this column and I hope that it can serve as a useful resource for residents.
Phoenix is undergoing huge changes. New apartments are popping up and rent prices are rising. The political and economic landscape is in constant flux. Although not everyone will agree with my views, I hope that this column helps those looking to make sense of downtown’s politics.
Let’s start with the Sit/Lie Law
In Phoenix, sleeping outside is illegal under the Urban Camping and Sit/Lie Law. This poses a significant problem to the homeless population, as many have no choice but to sleep on the streets.
A recent court ruling deemed a similar ordinance to be unconstitutional and a form of “cruel and unusual punishment”.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals recently sided with six homeless people from Boise, Idaho in a case that questioned the legality of “urban camping laws.” The homeless people involved in this case had sued the city over an ordinance that banned sleeping and camping in public spaces and the court argued that criminalizing homeless people with nowhere else to sleep is a violation of the Eighth Amendment.
The Phoenix Municipal Code does address urban camping and states that “It shall be unlawful for any person to camp in any park or preserve, or in any building, facility, or parking lot or structure, or on any property adjacent thereto, that is owned, possessed and controlled by the City.” This means that people are barred from sleeping on the streets.
In early 2018, a homeless camp formed on Roosevelt Row eventually grew to have at least a dozen people residing in it. Some residents living in the apartments surrounding the camp complained that it was unsafe and causing disturbances. After some deliberation, the City of Phoenix ruled this camp to be illegal under the ordinance and removed the homeless people from the area.
The median where the camp used to be now has signs stating that there is, “Absolutely no camping, lying, or sleeping by order of Phoenix City Code.”
It is unclear as to whether the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals would view Phoenix’s ordinance as a violation of the Eighth Amendment. Homeless people routinely sleep on the street, especially when shelters are full and they have nowhere else to go. It seems that the city of Phoenix only enforces this when the homeless pose a risk to public health and safety.
We have yet to find out if this decision will be brought before the supreme court or if it will even be enforced. Regardless, it does raise questions over how Phoenix manages its homeless population, and whether or not it is ethical to criminalize the homeless for sleeping in a public area.
While these homeless camps may very well pose a danger to public health and safety, there may not be anywhere else for the homeless to sleep. It does seem as though we must explore alternate solutions to the problem since homeless people have no choice but to break this ordinance if shelters are full.
Flagstaff, which also has a city ordinance that bans urban camping, is considering a “safe parking program” that would create spaces for people sleeping in their cars. The idea behind this program is to give people who are living out of their cars an opportunity to have a safe, legal place to sleep.
While this seems like a good way to create extra spaces for the homeless to sleep, it does not address the large number of homeless people who do not own vehicles.
Homeless people have no option but to sleep on the streets if shelters are full, but homeless camps can pose a risk to public health and safety. Our community should be open to discussion on new ways that we can address this issue, especially since there is a possibility that the ordinance could be seen as unconstitutional.
Contact the columnist at mbwillis@asu.edu.
