HOUSTON (CN) – A new Houston law that bans camping in public and forces campers to discard all their possessions that don’t fit in a small box unconstitutionally targets those living on the streets, three homeless people clam in a federal class action.
Lead plaintiff Tammy Kohr lives in a tent in a Houston homeless camp.
Already stressed by her recent cancer diagnosis, Kohr says in the class-action lawsuit filed Friday in Houston federal court that the city’s new law threatens her most prized possession: her dignity.
“Having a tent is important to protect her from the weather, insects, and other pests. She also uses her tent to get dressed in the morning and to keep her possessions safe. She likes having a tent to have privacy from other people,” the complaint states.
Kohr says she is going through her stuff and deciding what to keep because a new law that prohibits encampments – which went into effect May 12 – bans setting up tents or keeping too much property in public spaces.
“She is worried about losing her clothes, her mattress, and her cooler that she uses to keep drinks and meat cold. She does not know what will happen to her kitten. Most importantly, she is worried about losing her bike, which she and her boyfriend use to travel to job interviews,” the lawsuit states.
Kohr and two other plaintiffs sued the city of Houston, claiming its new law “effectively criminalizes homelessness.”
A Houston Police Department spokesman said Monday he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, but he did provide a memo HPD issued on Friday that advises its officers how to enforce the encampment ordinance.
“Things to remember about ‘keeping too much property’ in a public place: Under the law, property that would not fit in a container 3 feet high, 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep is too much and is illegal. Most medical equipment is not subject to this law,” the memo states.
Though people found in violation of the public-camping ban can be arrested and fined up to $500, HPD stresses in the memo that its officers can’t arrest or ticket anyone unless they’ve been offered a bed at a homeless shelter and declined or not responded to that offer.
The Houston City Council passed the ordinance in April, the same day it approved a law against panhandling that carries the same penalties.
The panhandling ban prohibits people from blocking traffic to solicit donations and from soliciting donations within 8 feet of an ATM, parking meter, gas pump or sidewalk café or 8 feet of any person who “gives an ‘imperative instruction, whether verbal or non-verbal,’ telling the speaker to stop,” according to the lawsuit.
Kohr says she used to panhandle with signs by ATMs and gas stations and would step into the street to accept money from people in their cars, but claims she’s been harassed by Houston police so much that she stopped.
“Tammy isn’t voluntarily in public: she cannot access an emergency shelter bed. She has tried calling and waiting in line, but the shelters are always full,” the lawsuit states.