Invoking the story of David and Goliath, a group of homeless people filed a motion for summary judgment Monday in a class-action lawsuit challenging Denver’s efforts to move the homeless.
Calling Denver’s methods “reminiscent of a scene from a dystopian science fiction novel,” the motion claims that the city violated the constitutional rights of homeless men and women, destroying their property and clearing camps without proper warning. Andy McNulty, an attorney with civil rights law firm Killmer, Lane & Newman, and Jason Flores-Williams filed the motion.
“Normally, plaintiffs don’t file motions for summary judgment, but in this case the evidence was overwhelming,” McNulty said. “Denver time and again keeps pushing them out of the city.”
Using depositions and copies of emails as evidence, the motion claims that during one sweep, city officials set fire to the plaintiffs’ property with flame throwers. It also accuses the city of using jail inmates to help facilitate the sweeps and of taking blankets from the homeless on cold winter nights.
The plaintiffs are asking that the court enter a summary judgment holding that their Fourth and 14th Amendment rights were violated. McNulty said the court should respond to the motions in the next two to three weeks. The city will file a motion for summary judgment, too, according to an email from the City Attorney’s Office.
“It will be up to the court to determine what the evidence shows and whether either side is entitled to judgment without a trial,” the email read.
The homeless first sued the city last August, claiming that Denver was forcing people out of the city’s downtown in a series of systematic sweeps, destroying personal property in the process. The lawsuit identifies a series of sweeps in 2015 and 2016, claiming that people were not adequately warned and that the possessions they could not carry were often thrown away.
“You’re talking about personal mementos, military IDs, just a couple things in your life that will help you to rebuild,” said Flores-Williams, the attorney who filed the lawsuit. “There’s not even the intent to save anyone’s property.”
Some two dozen people gathered Monday outside the Denver City and County Building to protest the sweeps and support the motion. Holding signs reading “Sweep streets not people” and “Quit playing homeless whack-a-mole,” the group marched down the 16th Street Mall to the office of the Downtown Denver Partnership.
“The city of Denver is treating homeless people like trash,” said Terese Howard, an organizer with Denver Homeless Out Loud. “This has got to stop.This isn’t just a fight in the courts, it’s a fight in the streets.”
Jerry Burton, a plaintiff in the case and a veteran, said he was angry that he fought to defend the constitution, only to have his own constitutional rights violated on the streets.
“I put my life on the line for this country to have my rights and dignity disrespected,” Burton said. “It makes you want to cry. It makes you feel like you’re not worth it.”
