Phoenix faces dueling lawsuits over homeless crisis as advocates scramble for more shelter
John Hook takes us inside 'The Zone' | Newsmaker
This week's Newsmaker Saturday comes to you from downtown Phoenix at 13th Avenue and Jefferson Street inside Old Station Sub Shop. It's been here for 37 years. The only problem is now it finds itself on the edge of the massive homeless encampment known as "The Zone," home to about 1,000 homeless people in Phoenix, and this has created problems for business owners, and nobody knows it better than Joe Faillace. John also heads into "The Zone" to hear the stories of the people living there.
PHOENIX (AP) - Phoenix is facing dueling lawsuits as it tries to manage a crisis of homelessness that has converted its downtown into a tent city housing hundreds of people as summer temperatures soar.
The city was ordered by the local Superior Court to clear out the downtown encampment because it is considered a "public nuisance." But Arizona's American Civil Liberties Union argued in a federal lawsuit that the city is violating the constitutional rights of unhoused people by slowly clearing the area known as "The Zone."
The dilemma faced by Phoenix is an example of the balance municipalities across the United States now must strike when trying to satisfy the demands of residents and business owners while respecting the rights of homeless people.
'The Zone': Here's what you should know about Phoenix's cleanup plan for the homeless encampment
The City of Phoenix is getting ready to clean up an area near Downtown Phoenix that is known as 'The Zone.' Here's what you should know about the cleanup plan, and what people in the area think about it.
Seattle faced a similar situation in 2020 when a woman sued the city, alleging that a sweep of the homeless encampment where she lived would violate her rights.
In New Mexico, as the city of Albuquerque worked to prohibit panhandling along roadways, the ACLU fought for that right.
U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow on Friday declined a request by the ACLU to declare Phoenix in contempt of a ruling he issued in December that ordered the city to refrain from enforcing camping and sleeping bans against people who cannot get shelter. He said he would not bar the city from further cleanups at the encampment site pending another hearing set for next month.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2019 that homeless people cannot be criminalized for sleeping outside if no alternatives exist.
But a Maricopa County Superior Court judge overseeing the case filed by business owners and residents who say the encampment is a public nuisance ordered Phoenix in March to make a plan to clear the tent city quickly.
Mixed reaction as Phoenix prepares to clean up 'The Zone'
In a matter of days, officials with the City of Phoenix will begin cleanup efforts at a homeless encampment known as 'The Zone,' and some are worried about the cleanup's impact on not just the homeless, but areas nearby.
By May 10, the city started the first round of the plan, cleaning one block of the encampment. But the ACLU said city employees seized and destroyed the property of homeless individuals and refused to let them return to the area after it was cleaned.
"The city should be held accountable for its conduct before any future cleanings can take place," Jared Keenan, legal director for the ACLU of Arizona, said in a statement.
The city has said it "vehemently disagrees" with the ACLU's assessment.
Amid the back and forth in court, Phoenix area advocates have scrambled for more shelter space for homeless people as the hot season begins.
Shelter space in an old motel came online Friday, but with just 52 beds it’s hardly enough as Arizona’s largest county announces the first four heat associated deaths of the year.
Arizona court rules that City of Phoenix must keep 'The Zone' free of the homeless
A judge on April 28 denied Phoenix's request for a stay after the city filed a notice of appeal.
More than a third of the 425 people who died from heat-associated causes in Maricopa County last year were homeless.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, a former social worker, has been seeking new solutions to Arizona’s housing crisis.
She successfully pushed for $150 million to be included in Arizona’s Housing Trust Fund in the state’s recently approved budget to shore up rent and utility assistance programs, eviction prevention, and build new shelters and affordable housing.
Another $60 million was included in the state budget for a new homeless shelter and services fund to be overseen by the Arizona Department of Housing.