DENVER – The ACLU of Colorado announced that it will present evidence tomorrow, May 7 in Fort Collins Municipal Court in support of its motion to dismiss the prosecution of Adam Wiemold, a homeless man who is charged with illegal “camping” by Fort Collins police for sleeping in his vehicle at a designated rest area where truck drivers regularly rest in their vehicles with impunity.

“I was sleeping in my vehicle because, even with a full-time job, I just didn’t make enough money to pay my bills and pay rent,” Wiemold said. “It shouldn’t be a crime to be homeless or to simply sleep. But, in Fort Collins, it is.”

Fort Collins has been criticized for its vigorous enforcement of its citywide anti-camping ordinance, which forbids sleeping in public spaces, including inside a person’s own legally-parked vehicle. The Fort Collins Homeless Coalition has documented an almost 500% increase in citations under the ordinance, with 413 prosecutions initiated in 2017.

Critics of such camping ordinances scored a recent victory when a federal circuit court of appeals ruled in an Idaho case that it violates the Constitution to prosecute persons for sleeping outside when they have no other choice, such as when indoor shelters are full. The influential ruling has already prompted some cities to amend their anti-camping ordinances to make exceptions when shelters are full, but Fort Collins makes no exception. ACLU of Colorado attorneys will rely on that decision in Wiemold’s case — the first Colorado case to invoke that widely-watched court ruling.

“On the night Mr. Wiemold was charged with sleeping in his vehicle, the shelters were full,” said ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein. “Our client had no choice but to sleep outside. He is not being prosecuted for a crime; he is being prosecuted for being poor. In Fort Collins, apparently, poor is a four-letter word.”

ACLU lawyers will also argue that the case against Mr. Wiemold must be thrown out on grounds of unconstitutional selective prosecution. Police communications and additional evidence will show that the police operation that snared Mr. Wiemold was deliberately targeted at homeless persons, while interstate truckers engaged in the same conduct at the same rest area were left undisturbed.

“Sleeping in one’s car is not a luxury,” said Adam Frank, who will argue for Mr. Wiemold as an ACLU cooperating attorney. “It’s a last resort. To selectively punish some people for simply trying to sleep and survive is the very definition of cruel and unusual.”

Attorneys for both sides will present evidence at the Municipal Court, Fort Collins, Colorado on May 7 at 1 p.m.

more on this case

By ACLU of Colorado Executive Director Nathan Woodliff-Stanley
Right now in Denver, people experiencing homelessness face a cruel trap: they can’t sleep on private property because that’s trespassing, and they can’t sleep on public property because of the Denver camping ban and other ordinances that criminalize homelessness.
So where are they supposed to go?
The ACLU of Colorado supports Denver Initiative 300, on the ballot May 7, because it ends the Denver camping ban and breaks the cycle of criminalizing homelessness. The initiative was created by people directly impacted by homelessness, who understand the vicious cycle of our current system all too well.
Solutions to homelessness will require extensive investment in affordable housing, job opportunities, accessibility and a range of public services, but as long as the city, police and some of our businesses believe the evidence of homelessness can be hidden, or swept away by policing and criminalization, there will never be enough money or will to adequately address the real issues.
Yes, shelters are sometimes an option, but there are not nearly enough shelter beds for the homeless population in Denver, and there are many people for whom shelters are not an option, due to shelter restrictions, location relative to place of employment, pets, possessions, physical or mental health issues, lack of transportation, accessibility — the list goes on and on.
Extensive city resources are used to conduct sweeps by police to ticket or arrest people experiencing homelessness, or to wake people up in the middle of the night and tell them to “move along.”
But the question always remains — move along to where?
The well-financed “Vote No on 300” campaign is using false and misleading scare tactics to paint an image of homelessness as out of control and encroaching everywhere, but the homeless population that would exist after the ordinance is the same one that exists now. Initiative 300 would not increase homelessness and many restrictions on where people can sleep would still remain. It would not allow criminal behavior either, but, it would block the city from giving you a criminal record if you ever needed to sleep in your own legally parked car.
Initiative 300 does not restrict the provision of services; it is the sweeps that occur now that push people further away from service providers and into other neighborhoods. It is the current criminalization of homelessness that creates barriers for people who want to offer a helping hand.
Passing Initiative 300 is necessary to start a real conversation that the city has avoided for far too long. It makes a statement that Denver must get serious about creating real solutions for our homeless neighbors rather than using our criminal legal system to displace and dehumanize them. Opponents of the initiative say, “We can do better,” but that is a naive slogan in a city where the camping ban remains on the books, where police were caught on video taking away blankets, and where donations for services were used to conduct police sweeps instead.
Opponents of Initiative 300 call it “inhumane,” “risky,” and “unworthy of our city.” But sweeping people like debris from place to place is what’s inhumane. Criminalizing people for needing rest is risky. And saying that more should be done, but not doing anything, is unworthy of a city known for its compassion and innovation.
We can do better, and it starts with recognizing that human beings shouldn’t lose their human rights just because they’ve lost their home. Making people invisible is not the right initiative. Passing 300 is a worthy start.
Originally published in the Denver Post on April 26, 2019. 

Denver Municipal Elections- Get-out-the-vote Phone Bank

Monday, 5/6

6 pm - 8 pm | Doors open at 5:30 pm | Training starts at 6 pm

ACLU of Colorado Offices: 303 E. 17th, Suite 250, Denver, 80218

RSVP HERE

Every vote counts. And so does every voter. Join the ACLU of Colorado and voting rights activists as we increase voter turnout by making phone calls and sending texts to voters. We'll encourage voters to turn in their ballots and to support Initiative 300, the Right to Survive ordinance. We'll provide you with training and you'll provide voters with all the information they need to exercise their right to vote. The ACLU is nonpartisan. Pizza served. Kids welcome. 

Email [email protected] with questions.
Vote like your rights depend on it!