Trisha Trigilio, the ACLU’s lead attorney in the case, said Friday that lawyers were considering whether to appeal Hoyt’s decision. To describe the ruling as disappointing “seems like an understatement,” she said.
“Our clients are living in the encampments because they have no place else to go,” she said. “Our clients are now at risk of being arrested just for being homeless.”
If ticketed, people who can’t afford a place to live face fines up to $500, Trigilio said.
“It’s not a constructive public policy solution,” she said.
Turner has said the restraining order caused conditions at the sites to worsen. One of them includes more than 100 tents under a freeway near downtown. It and another site have been the scene of several homicides and other crimes.
Residents of nearby neighborhoods also have complained about the conditions that public health officials have agreed are becoming a hazard because of large amounts of feces and urine on the ground.
The city has cleared out the camps for repeated cleanings but Hoyt’s order, issued in August, didn’t prevent people from returning and again setting up their tents, stoves and furniture.
The ordinance banning the encampments is part of a six-point plan the city unveiled earlier this year to tackle homelessness in Houston, including providing more permanent housing and an anti-panhandling campaign. Officials say Houston has about 3,400 homeless individuals.
The city is proposing to move some of the homeless to a plot of land at a bus depot where they can find security and shelter.
No trial date has been set for the lawsuit.
Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
Article Appeared @https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/federal-judge-houston-can-clear-out-homeless-tent-cities