COVID-19 USED AS EXCUSE
Federal
judge allows clearing of St. Louis homeless encampment
)
A
couple stand by their belongings after taking their tent down in a homeless
encampment in St. Louis on Friday. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License
Photo
May 2 (UPI) -- A federal judge in
Missouri ruled Saturday that St. Louis officials can clear a homeless
encampment downtown to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy
organization against criminalizing poverty, filed a
lawsuit against the city on behalf of homeless people who
reside in the encampment. Ranata Frank, who resides there, was named in the
suit, as one representative of the approximately 50 residents of the tent
encampment.
The filing of the suit Friday blocked a
deadline that same day for the encampment occupants to leave.
City officials said that the tents' crowded
and unsanitary conditions risked coronavirus spread. But the suit said clearing
the encampment could increase the public health threat.
Clearing the camp would conflict with Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention guidance
that says "clearing encampments can cause people to
disperse throughout the community and break connections with service providers.
This increases the potential for infectious disease spread."
U.S.
copes with COVID-19 pandemic
A man barbaques in a
tent camp that has been set up for the homeless in downtown St. Louis on April
30. The tent camp has been in place for several weeks prompting St. Louis Mayor
Lyda Krewson to order the homeless be moved on May 1, due to unhealthy
conditions and the danger of coronavirus spreading among the 50-plus tent
sites. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo
The suit also called for a temporary
restraining order, arguing that eviction from encampment under threat of arrest
violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual
punishment.
Frank said in the lawsuit that she has been
seeking a home in St. Louis since November without success.
She added that three week ago she signed up
for a bed in a hotel, but hasn't gotten one yet.
"For weeks, the City of St. Louis has
stated that they have enough shelter for the people who want it. This is
patently false," ArchCity Defenders attorney John Bonacorsi said in a
statement. "As unhoused individuals, outreach workers and service
providers know firsthand, there is a severe shortage of adequate shelter space
for our local unhoused community, which means that there are hundreds of people
who are forced to risk punishment and sleep outside."
City officials said they arranged space in
hotels for everyone residing in the encampments. They also denied that they
were planning criminal charges or arrests and said the homeless residents have
been offered testing for the virus.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Pitlyk denied
plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order in her ruling.
"The court cannot say that a temporary
restraining order prohibiting the city from taking the steps it reasonably
deems necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19 serves
the public interest," Pitlyk said.
Pitlyk set a preliminary injunction hearing
for May 12.
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