Two dueling lawsuits in Washington state have brought national attention to homeless encampments and the right of local governments to limit or ban them.
The case involves leaders of Burien, Washington, a city of more than 50,000 people located near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Burien has a police station, but the city has spent $16 million on it. Approximately 45% of annual budgetupon Under contract We work with the King County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services.
Earlier this month, the Burien City Council voted to pass it. Ordinance 832, banned homeless tents from being set up within 500 feet of many locations in the city, including schools, day care centers and parks. The law provides for one exception. If shelter is not available, homeless residents may remain in tents from 7pm to 6am.
“We passed legislation that addresses the negative impacts around tent encampments,” Brien said. Mayor Kevin Schilling. ”[We’re] We’re giving people the option of sleeping in tents at night, but we’re saying, ‘You can’t put up a tent 24/7, because that’s going to lead to bigger problems.’ ”
Although the law passed properly, King County Sheriff Patricia Cole-Tindall ordered lawmakers not to enforce it. On March 11, she filed a lawsuit against the city of Burien, arguing that the ban on encampments is unconstitutional.
“After completing a legal analysis of the ordinance, the Sheriff’s Office has serious concerns about the constitutionality of the ordinance, especially when exclusion zones are determined solely at the discretion of the city manager and can be changed at any time. “There is,” the sheriff said. lawsuit Said.
Cole-Tindall is a political appointee of Democratic County Executive Dow Constantine, but he maintained that Constantine was not involved in the decision not to enforce the law.
Two weeks after the sheriff filed his lawsuit, the city of Burien filed a countersuit in Snohomish County Superior Court, alleging that the sheriff misperformed by failing to enforce the law. breach of contract.
An investigation by Discovery Institute journalist Jonathan Cho has revealed that homeless people in Burien are often using drugs in broad daylight and harassing local residents. In the next video posted to X, a homeless man orders the person filming him, ostensibly Cho, to “get the shit out of his face.” After a while, he warned her that it was “going to get violent.”
Mayor Schilling similarly explained to various media outlets that the decision not to enforce this law poses a danger to homeless people living in Burien. In recent weeks alone, three homeless people have suffered an overdose, one of whom has since died, Schilling claimed.
The sheriff’s office released a statement regarding the city’s lawsuit, saying, “The constitutionality of Mr. Brien’s anti-camping ordinance is squarely in federal court. Filing the lawsuit in Snohomish County will avoid a binding judgment. Mr. Brien’s attempts to do so are nothing more than a misguided distraction while he awaits sentencing.” From federal court. ”
Schilling said he hopes the lawsuit, at the very least, will help the city transition to an independent police force. He said: “This whole situation is a waste of taxpayer money, taxpayer time and government resources when we could all be focusing on getting people off the streets and into shelters and services. ” he said.
While the case is pending in court, local residents are frustrated that their town is being taken over by lawless vagrants. “This is intentional,” one local businessman said of the tents clustered around his town.
“Who’s making all the decisions? Not us.”
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