DENVER – ACLU of Colorado sent a 信 today to government officials in 博尔德, demanding an end to their unconstitutional and inhumane treatment of unhoused 博尔德 residents. The 信 followed an ACLU investigation that found that unhoused residents are denied shelter due to arbitrary residency requirements and unjustly prosecuted for sleeping outdoors even when they have no adequate alternatives.
According to the 信, 博尔德, “with one hand makes shelter available to only a limited few, and with the other, criminalizes those forced to sleep outdoors under the false narrative that they are resistant to services.”
ACLU of Colorado called on officials to rescind a policy that unconstitutionally distinguishes between older and newer residents in the provision of shelter services. The policy generally excludes individuals who have lived in 博尔德 County for less than six months from staying at the shelter, except in the most severe weather. Anyone who makes the mistake of trying to stay at the shelter before they meet the six-month residency requirement is barred from accessing most of the shelter’s overnight services for two years.
Records reviewed by the ACLU suggest that the policy was adopted to conserve resources for longtime residents and prevent new unhoused individuals from traveling to, 生活在, 博尔德. But “博尔德 simply cannot constitutionally address homelessness by trying to keep unhoused people out of town,” the 信 states. 美国.S. Supreme Court has left no room for doubt that conditioning vital government assistance on a minimum length of county residency is unlawful.
ACLU of Colorado also called on 博尔德 to stop enforcing its camping ban against people experiencing homelessness who cannot stay at the shelter. Courts around the country have recognized that it violates the Constitution to punish people for sleeping outdoors when they have no meaningful alternative. Earlier this year, ACLU of Colorado won a ruling that the City of Fort Collins violated this constitutional principle when it prosecuted a man for sleeping in his vehicle overnight when he could not go to an indoor shelter. Similar to Fort Collins’ ordinance, 博尔德’s camping ban makes it a crime to sleep overnight in public space. 同时, inadequate shelter capacity, exclusionary policies like the unconstitutional six-month residency requirement, and other barriers to shelter make it impossible for many unhoused 博尔德 residents to sleep indoors. Records reviewed by the ACLU suggest that the City unlawfully enforces its ordinance without any inquiry into whether the individual cited had any choice but to sleep outside — a practice that risks punishing people just for experiencing homelessness in 博尔德.
“博尔德 prides itself for being recognized two years in a row as ‘the No. 1 place in America to call home.’ It is our hope that the City… will recognize that unhoused residents have every right to call 博尔德 home, 太.”
The 信 was addressed to the Executive 董事会 of Homeless Solutions for 博尔德 County (“HSBC”), the intergovernmental entity that coordinates services for individuals experiencing homelessness in 博尔德 County, as well as 博尔德 City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde. It was authored by Annie Kurtz, an attorney and ACLU of Colorado’s Equal Justice Works Fellow. Her fellowship is sponsored by Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
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The ACLU of Colorado is the state’s oldest civil rights organization, protecting and defending the civil rights of all Coloradans through litigation, education and advocacy.
