Nicole Ludden A group of local organizations is suing the city of Tucson to prevent homeless encampment sweeps ahead of the tourist-luring Gem, Mineral & Fossil Showcase slated to begin Jan. 28.
People are also reading… The city adamantly denies it’s preparing to sweep the encampment ahead of the gem show. Tucson launched a new reporting tool for the public to report homeless encampments in October. Based on the danger the reported encampments pose to the public, inhabitants are either allowed to stay after cleanup or forced to leave with 72 hours’ notice.
Due to the discrepancy between the number of homeless individuals and shelter beds, the lawsuit says the city is in violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The lawsuit also alleges city workers “intend to seize the property of houseless individuals existing in public parks, without affording them a post-deprivation process for challenging the seizure of their property.”
I was out for a walk and along the way I saw a few homeless people. I have an extra bedroom at my apartment. I offered to let them come in our of the cold. They made me feel like I was a creep for offering. WTF? They can freeze to death for all I care now.