On Thursday, February 6th, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska filed a lawsuit against the Municipality of Anchorage on behalf of three unhoused people living at Arctic Boulevard and Fireweed Lane in the North Star neighborhood of Anchorage.
The ACLU of Alaska requested a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Municipality's plan to abate the Arctic Boulevard and Fireweed Lane encampment on Monday. It seeks emergency relief as every shelter in Anchorage is full, including the warming center, and temperatures have been below freezing for over a week.
The following claims are outlined as part of the suit against the Municipality:
- The abatement violates due process rights: By taking and destroying people’s property without adequate notice or a hearing, the Municipality’s abatement policy violates the due process rights of its unhoused residents.
- To abate without shelter space is cruel and unusual: The Municipality’s practice of abating encampments of people experiencing homelessness without telling them where they may lawfully exist constitutes a banishment regime. Banishment is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, a violation of our state’s constitution.
- The abatement requires unreasonable seizures: By permitting the routine seizure and destruction of an unhoused persons’ unabandoned personal property without a warrant, the Municipality’s abatement policy violates their right to be free from unreasonable seizures.
“The policies that are being used to shuffle unhoused people from different corners of our city have to stop,” said Ruth Botstein, Legal Director for the ACLU of Alaska. “We have a legal obligation to protect Alaskans against cruel and unusual punishment and unreasonable seizures of property, and to preserve the due process rights of every person in this city, regardless of their housing status. We have a moral obligation to treat people with humanity and to not further their suffering by taking what little materials they use to survive Alaska in the winter and displacing them.”
The ACLU of Alaska initially filed litigation against the Municipality of Anchorage in the summer of 2023 over its abatement practices. This case is ongoing.