Attorneys challenging Boulder’s camping ban argue that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which supports cities’ rights to ticket homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces, should not apply to their case in Boulder County District Court.
The central issue in this case is whether the local court should follow the Supreme Court’s decision, which the City of Boulder argues it should. The plaintiffs disagree and have recently filed a new motion to this effect.
The ACLU of Colorado filed the lawsuit in May 2022 on behalf of homeless residents and the nonprofit Feet Forward. They claim that Boulder violated the Colorado Constitution by ticketing homeless individuals who had no other option but to sleep in public areas.
In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case from Grants Pass, Oregon, that camping bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment under the U.S. Constitution. Boulder has since attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that this decision applies because the language about cruel and unusual punishment is the same in both the U.S. and Colorado constitutions.
However, the plaintiffs have filed a new motion asking the Boulder County District Court to ignore the Grants Pass ruling. They argue that the Colorado Supreme Court has historically interpreted similar state constitutional provisions as offering broader civil rights protections than the U.S. Constitution. They also highlighted Colorado’s “proud Western history,” including examples like Chautauqua, which began as an educational retreat and later became a city park.
Additionally, the plaintiffs argue that the U.S. Supreme Court ruling did not address whether Boulder’s penalties, such as jail time, are “unconstitutionally disproportionate.”
A district court judge is expected to decide in the coming months whether to dismiss the case or allow it to proceed.