Blake v. City of Grants Pass

DEBRA BLAKE, GLORIA JOHNSON, JOHN LOGAN,individuals, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF GRANTS PASS, Defendant.

Case No. 1:18-cv-01823-CL

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF OREGON MEDFORD DIVISION

July 22, 2020

OPINION AND ORDER

CLARKE, Magistrate Judge.

This case involves a certified class of homeless individuals residing in and around Grants Pass, Oregon. The class members allege that the City of Grants Pass has a web of ordinances, customs, and practices that, in combination, punish people based on their status of being involuntarily homeless. This case comes before the Court on cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court has also considered amicus briefs submitted by League of Oregon Cities and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. For the reasons below, Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 62) is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part, and Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment (Dkt. No. 80) is DENIED.¹

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment shall be granted when the record shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material facts and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247 (1986). The moving party has the initial burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986); Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1076 (9th Cir. 2001) (en banc). The court cannot weigh the evidence or determine the truth but may only determine whether there is a genuine issue of fact. Playboy Enters., Inc. v. Welles, 279 F.3d 796, 800 (9th Cir. 2002). An issue of fact is genuine "if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248.

When a properly supported motion for summary judgment is made, the burden shifts to the opposing party to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id. at 250. Conclusory allegations unsupported by factual material are insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment. Taylor v. List, 880 F.2d 1040, 1045 (9th Cir. 1989). Instead, the opposing party must, by affidavit or as otherwise provided by Rule 56, designate specific facts which show there is a genuine issue for trial. Devereaux, 263 F.3d at 1076. In assessing whether a party has met its burden, the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Allen v. City of Los Angeles, 66 F.3d 1052, 1056 (9th Cir. 1995).

BACKGROUND

This case is about respecting the dignity of homeless individuals and the City of Grants Pass' ability to protect the safety and welfare of its citizens. Unsheltered homelessness is an ever-growing crisis nationwide, and the overwhelming majority of homeless individuals are not living that way by choice. According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), there were an estimated 533,000 homeless individuals in the United States in 2018; more than a third of whom were "unsheltered homeless," meaning, individuals "whose primary nighttime location [wa]s a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, . . . or camping ground."² HUD's figures are obtained using what is known as a "point-in-time" or "PIT" count, which, as its name suggests, is arrived at by counting the number of people in a city or county who are homeless on a particular night.³ HUD requires local homelessness assistance and prevention networks to conduct a PIT count each year as a condition of federal funding. A 2001 administrative study found that the true size of a homeless population may be anywhere between 2.5 to 10 times larger than what can be estimated by a PIT count.⁴ As the Ninth Circuit recognized in Martin v. City of Boise, there are many reasons for this undercount:

It is widely recognized that a one-night point in time count will undercount the homeless population, as many homeless individuals may have access to temporary housing on a given night, and as weather conditions may affect the number of available volunteers and the number of homeless people staying at shelters or accessing services on the night of the count.

920 F.3d 584, 604 (9th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. City of Boise, Idaho v. Martin, 140 S. Ct. 674, (2019).

To combat the homeless crisis, many local governments have created ordinances—such as the ones challenged by Plaintiffs in this case—that ban "camping" or similar activities in all or parts of a city. These ordinances are often referred to as "quality of life laws."⁵ Enforcing quality of life laws is an expensive endeavor nationwide. For example, the City of Los Angeles spends $50 million annually policing criminal and civil quality of life laws.⁶ By contrast, the City of Los Angeles spends only $13 million on providing housing and services to the country's largest homeless population.⁷ Likewise, a Seattle University study found that the cost to the City of Seattle for enforcing just one of its six quality of life laws was $2.3 million over five years.⁸

The City of Grants Pass, Oregon, the city involved in this case, had a population of 23,000 people according to the 2000 census, and it is now estimated to have more than 38,000 people.⁹ The development of affordable housing in Grants Pass has not kept up with the population growth. City Manager Aaron Cubic confirmed in his deposition that Grants Pass has a vacancy rate of 1% and that "essentially means that there's no vacancy." Edward Johnson Decl., Ex. 1, Cubic Depo. at p. 49, lines 1-10 (Dkt. #63-1). Kelly Wessels, the Chief Operating Officer of the Community Action Agency that serves Grants Pass testified that "Grants Pass'stock of affordable housing has dwindled to almost zero. Landlords routinely require an applicant to have an income that is three times the monthly rent. Rental units that cost less than $1,000/month are virtually unheard of in Grants Pass." Kelly Wessels Decl. ¶ 7 (Dkt. #42).

A point-in-time count of homeless individuals was conducted by the United Community Action Network ("UCAN") on January 30, 2019, in Grants Pass. UCAN counted 602 homeless individuals in Grants Pass. Wessels Decl. ¶ 6 (Dkt. #42). Another 1,045 individuals were counted as "precariously housed," meaning that they were sleeping at the home of somebody else, or "couch surfing." Id.

In March 2013, the Grants Pass City Council hosted a Community Roundtable, hereinafter referred to as the "2013 Roundtable Meeting," to "identify solutions to current vagrancy problems." Wessels Decl. ¶ 8, Ex. 1 (minutes of public roundtable) (Dkt #65). Minutes from this meeting show that the City Council President stated, "the point is to make it uncomfortable enough for them in our city so they [referring to homeless individuals] will want to move on down the road." Wessels Decl., Ex. 1 at 2 (Dkt. #65-1). At the end of the meeting, a list of "actions to move forward on" was created. These action items included (i) ways to increase police presence downtown; (ii) create an exclusion zone and possibly have a blanket trespassing regulation; (iii) specific amount of misdemeanors leading to prosecution; (iv) not feeding in parks or other specific areas in the city; (v) posting "zero tolerance" signs stating certain ordinances will be strictly enforced; (vi) look into the possibility of creating a "do not serve" or "most unwanted" list; (vii) pass out the trespassing letters and get word out to have them signed; and (viii) provide assistance in constructing safe areas at agencies to protect volunteers from aggressive behavior. Id. at 13. City Manager Aaron Cubic confirmed that the action items from the 2013 Roundtable Meeting were copied into the City's strategic plans in theform of an objective to "address the vagrancy issue" starting with the 2013-14 Grants Pass Strategic Plan up to the current 2019 Grants Pass Strategic Plan. Edward Johnson Decl., Ex. 1, Cubic Depo. at p. 29 lines 11-16; p. 46 line 20 to p. 48 line 10. (Dkt. #63-1). The City Manager also confirmed that one of the action items related to this objective was the "targeted enforcement of illegal camping." Id. at p. 36 line 16 to p. 37 line 5.

There are no homeless shelters in Grants Pass that qualify as "shelters" under the criteria provided by HUD. The housing option cited by the City that most resembles a shelter is the Gospel Rescue Mission ("GRM"), which operates transitional housing programs in Grants Pass. GRM Director of Resident Services, Brian Bouteller, testified that GRM offers 30-day transitional housing in two facilities: one facility is for women and children with capacity for 60 people and the other for men with 78 spaces. Edward Johnson Decl., Ex. 2, Bouteller Depo. p. 18 lines 10-15 (Dkt. #63-2). There is no program for men with children or unaccompanied minors. Id. at Bouteller Depo. p. 19, lines 5-8. Homeless individuals in these programs are required to work six-hour days, six days a week in exchange for a bunk for 30 days. Id. at Bouteller Depo. p. 48 line 23-p. 51 line 5. During this 30-day period, people are not permitted to look for outside work. Id. at Bouteller Depo. at p. 51 line 25-p. 52 line 4. It is mandatory that GRM residents attend a traditional Christian Chapel twice a day and go to a Christian Church that follows the Nicene and Apostle's Creed every week. Id. at Bouteller Depo. at p. 33 line 10-p. 35 line 3. Before a person is considered for admission at GRM, they must agree to comply with a lengthy list of rules. For example, if you have serious or chronic medical or mental health issues that prevent you from participating in daily GRM life, you may not be able to stay at the GRM; you are to remain nicotine free during your stay at GRM; all intimate relationships other than legal/biblical marriage, regardless of gender, either on...