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August- September 2021

 

 

Dear Supporters and Endorsers of the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign,
 
Thank you so much for your continued support. We appreciate your partnership while we advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness. While COVID-19 continues to contribute to homelessness and housing instability across the country, advocates on the ground and in the legislature are working hard to ensure that homelessness is a brief and rare experience. In addition to the important legislative and legal victories summarized in this newsletter, the House of Representative Budget Committee recently voted to advance[[link removed]] the "Build Back Better Act," a $3.5 trillion comprehensive economic recovery package which includes $327 billion for affordable housing expenditures.
 
Additionally, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness recently launched House America: An All-Hands-On-Deck Effort to Address the Nation's Homelessness Crisis[[link removed]]. The initiative is a national partnership that seeks to bring together mayors, county leaders, Tribal nation leaders, and governors to utilize investments from the American Rescue Plan[[link removed]] to address homelessness in their communities using a Housing First approach. The Launch event is available to stream here[[link removed]].
 
Keep encouraging your friends, colleagues, and elected officials to endorse[[link removed]]. Reminder to check out our new COVID-19 page at nlchp.org/coronavirus[[link removed]] for recommendations and resources. Be on the look out for future communications from the campaign.
 

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If you have submissions for the next newsletter, please fill out this Google form[[link removed]].

 
 
IN THIS ISSUE
 
Legislative Updates

Litigation Updates

Federal Policy Updates

 

Announcements

 

Campaign Updates

Legislative Updates
 
Rep. Cori Bush Introduces Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021
Following the Supreme Court ruling that the CDC’s eviction moratorium is not legally enforceable, Rep. Cori Bush introduced the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021[[link removed]]. The Act seeks to amend Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act to grant permanent authority to the Department of Health and Human Services to implement a federal eviction moratorium. The Act, if passed, will allow the HHS to maintain a federal eviction moratorium for at least 60 days following the end of the Covid-19 public health emergency.
 
The Act comes after Rep. Bush, who personally experienced homelessness prior to being elected to Congress, led efforts to publicly protest the expiration of the eviction moratorium, which originally ended July 31. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has estimated[[link removed]] that 30-40 million people nationwide have become at risk of eviction during the Covid-19 housing and economic crisis.
Moreover, the CDC has acknowledged[[link removed]] that people experiencing homelessness face higher risks of contracting Covid-19 because of the need to congregate, a lack of shelter and health care access, and the practical difficulties of administering vaccines to unhoused communities.
The Law Center, along with other organizations and advocates, has signed on as an official supporter of Rep. Bush’s proposed bill.
 
Law Center Urges Congress to Pass Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act
The Law Center, along with 14 other advocacy organizations, penned a letter to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services encouraging them to pass the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act.
 
The Act, introduced by Senators Chris Van Hollen and Todd Young, provides $1.35 billion to supplement any investments in Housing Choice Vouchers in the upcoming reconciliation bill. In the letter, the signing organizations note that 1 in 10 U.S. children are living in high-poverty, low-opportunity neighborhoods, and that children who are able to move out of concentrated poverty neighborhoods through programs such as Housing Choice Vouchers are more likely to have better health outcomes, higher earnings, and fewer encounters with the criminal legal system.
 
Litigation Updates
 
Plaintiff Living in Vehicle Succeeds in Challenging Washington State’s Prejudicial Parking Rules
After finishing work one day and finding that the truck he had been living in was towed, Seattle resident Steven Long sued[[link removed]] the city for its enforcement of a parking ordinance that left Mr. Long without his only shelter. On August 12, the Supreme Court of Washington sided with Mr. Long, finding that the fines Seattle had levied against Mr. Long were excessive, and that the ordinance’s provision allowing for Mr. Long’s truck to be auctioned off in the absence of paid fines violated Washington’s homestead act, a frontier-era law forbidding the state from forcibly selling someone’s home. The opinion held that cities can still impose fines on people living in those cars, but ruled that those fines may not be excessively high.
 
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Enjoining Montgomery, Alabama’s Enforcement of Anti-Panhandling Law
The Law Center, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center, succeeded[[link removed]] in obtaining a preliminary injunction preventing the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department from enforcing anti-panhandling laws. The preliminary injunction, granted by a federal judge in the Middle District of Alabama, is an important affirmation of the free speech rights of people experiencing homelessness in Alabama and nationwide.
 
While the court has yet to make a final ruling on the constitutionality of Montgomery’s anti-panhandling laws, the granting of the preliminary injunction suggests that a favorable outcome is likely. Additionally, the city of Montgomery, originally named as a defendant in the case, settled its portion of the lawsuit back in November of 2020 when it agreed[[link removed]] to stop arresting and ticketing homeless individuals for panhandling while the case was pending.
 
Ninth Circuit to Hear Case Challenging City’s Parking Laws as Applied to RVs Used for Housing
Lacey, Washington limits parking in the city to no more than four hours on all city streets – a rule that is prohibitively difficult to abide by for individuals living in their vehicles. The city’s law, enacted in 2019 and sought to target the growing number of RVs in the city, also allows the city to issue fines and impound vehicles in violation of the four hour rule. Its enforcement, Plaintiff Jack Potter argues[[link removed]], runs afoul of the Eighth Amendment by effectively barring all individuals living in their vehicles from residing within city bounds.
 
Although the lower court ruled in favor of Lacey and rejected Mr. Potter’s Eighth Amendment arguments based on Martin v. Boise[[link removed]], the Ninth Circuit is set[[link removed]] to hear the appeal following Washington Supreme Court’s favorable ruling[[link removed]] in Long v. Seattle, which found that excessive parking fines and impoundment of a vehicle in which Mr. Long resided did violate the Eighth Amendment.
 
Ninth Circuit Affirms Preliminary Injunction Prohibiting City of Los Angeles from Discarding “Bulky Items” Stored in Public Areas
On September 2, the Ninth Circuit ruled[[link removed]] in Garcia v. Los Angeles that Los Angeles can no longer carry out its policy of discarding “bulky items” stored in public areas and owned by individuals experiencing homelessness. In upholding the preliminary injunction granted by the district court, the Ninth Circuit found that Section 56.11 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, which restricts storage of personal property in public areas, violates the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable seizures.
 
The decision reaffirms Lavan v. City of Los Angeles, a 2012 case which similarly upheld a preliminary injunction prohibiting the city of Los Angeles from destroying homeless individuals’ publicly stored personal property. Taken together, Garcia and Lavan make clear the stance of the Ninth Circuit that the Fourth Amendment protects all individuals from unreasonable government seizures of property, even when those individuals are unhoused and even when that property is stored in public areas.
 
Shayla Myers of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles argued the case, and the Law Center submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the plaintiffs-appellees.
 
Eleventh Circuit Strikes Down Florida Law Banning Food Sharing in City Parks
In August, a unanimous panel of the Eleventh Circuit handed down its opinion in Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs v. City of Fort Lauderdale, finding[[link removed]] that a rule limiting food sharing in Fort Lauderdale parks is unconstitutional as applied to the provision of free vegan meals for people experiencing homelessness. Food Not Bombs, a nonprofit organization that provides free vegan and vegetarian meals to communities in need, brought the case challenging Fort Lauderdale Park Rule 2.2, which required city permission for all food-sharing events in public parks and allowed city officials to charge thousands of dollars to organizations seeking permits.
 
Writing on behalf of a three-judge panel, Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus stated that the challenged rule runs afoul of the First Amendment because the rule’s construction “amounts to an outright ban on public food sharing in all of Fort Lauderdale’s parks; any exception is subject only to the standardless whims of city permitting officials.” He added, “… The complete lack of any standards allows for arbitrary enforcement and even for discrimination based on viewpoint.”
 
The decision follows an earlier ruling[[link removed]] by an Eleventh Circuit panel finding that outdoor food sharing qualifies as expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment, a holding that has the potential to serve as a litigation tool for challenging similar laws and ordinances that effectively discriminate against individuals experiencing homelessness.
 
Ninth Circuit Panel Vacates Lower Court's Preliminary Injunction in Los Angeles Alliance for Human Rights v. Los Angeles 
On September 23, a panel of the Ninth Circuit issued[[link removed]] a decision vacating the district court's preliminary injunction in LA Alliance for Human Rights v. LA. The original injunction required the City and County of LA to offer shelter to all unhoused individuals in Skid Row within 180 days, but did not specify the quality or style fo shelter required, and gave a green light to enforce anti-camping laws after any offer was made. 
 
The panel held that the district court abused its discretion in granting the preliminary injunction because the plaintiffs did not have standing, primarily because the district court's order relied largely on unpled calims and theories. Attorneys who have been actively advocating on behalf of the homeless intervenors in the case have made clear that the original injunction granted by the district court was an inappropriate remedy from the start because it would have diverted resources away from permanent housing and into shelter beds and other temporary solutions. 
 
Federal Policy Updates
 

Department of Justice Investigating Phoenix Police Over Homeless Abuse
In August, the Justice Department launched an official investigation[[link removed]] into allegations of excessive use of force against individuals experiencing homelessness by the Phoenix Police Department. The investigation comes after video footage was released earlier this year depicting two Phoenix police officers striking a person at a homeless encampment. The Justice Department has also indicated interest in adding violations of homeless persons’ rights to their ongoing investigations in Minneapolis and Louisville. Local advocates should bring the DOJ’s active interest in the civil rights of homeless persons to the attention of their local elected officials and law enforcement to help prevent abuse. 
 
100% FEMA Reimbursement for Non-Congregate Shelter for People Experiencing Homelessness Extended
FEMA announced[[link removed]] that it has extended its funding for emergency non-congregate shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic until November 30, 2021. The funding was originally scheduled to end on December 31, 2020 and was previously extended to July 31, 2021. This most recent extension is largely due to the highly-contagious Delta variant.
 
FEMA authorized[[link removed]] this funding at the beginning of the pandemic because offering non-congregate shelter is a valuable tool to combat the transmission of COVID-19. On January 21, 2020, FEMA approved waivers of both its 30-day renewal and 25% match requirements after an executive order from President Biden, offering 100% reimbursement funding for non-congregate shelter for the duration of the pandemic.
 
On February 3, 2021, FEMA further expanded[[link removed]] its previously issued support for communities using non-congregate housing to combat COVID-19. First, FEMA offered 100% reimbursement for “all work eligible under FEMA’s existing COVID-19 policies, including increasing medical capacity, non-congregate sheltering, and emergency feeding distribution.” Additionally, upon approving a reimbursement request, FEMA will fund the activity retroactively from January 2020 until the revised November 30 deadline.
 
These changes in policy allow communities to offer non-congregate shelter to people experiencing homelessness for the duration of the crisis at no local cost. Communities should rely on non-congregate shelter options, as congregate shelter facilities often lack the recommended social distancing, air circulation, and sanitation necessary to stem the spread of COVID-19. For example, we continue to observe[[link removed]] COVID-19 outbreaks in congregate shelter facilities. This is further supported by the CDC, which recommends[[link removed]] that communities allow people experiencing homelessness to remain in encampments unless communities can provide individual housing options.
 
$10 Billion Set Aside in Transportation Bill to Increase Transit to Affordable Housing
The Public Transportation Expansion Act[[link removed]], which will be part of the Budget Reconciliation Bill, seeks to allocate federal funding to public transit projects based on their accessibility to affordable housing. The Act seeks to increase physical and economic mobility for people living in affordable and public housing through the provision of federal grants administered by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration. 
 
House Rep. Maxine Waters Introduces Expediting Assistance to Renters and Landlords Act to Improve Emergency Rental Assistance
In early September, Rep. Maxine Waters introduced the Expediting Assistance to Renters and Landlords Act, which would require[[link removed]] that emergency rental assistance (ERA) be available to tenants directly when landlords refuse to participate and would provide protections for tenants in cases where landlords receive assistance without involvement, among other provisions. On September 10, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing[[link removed]] entitled, “Protecting Renters During the Pandemic: Reviewing Reforms to Expedite Emergency Rental Assistance” to consider Rep. Waters’ legislation and other proposed revisions to ERA.  
 
CDC Moratorium Renewed—and Overturned
In response to the pressure raised from a  sit-in organized[[link removed]] by Representative Cori Bush, the CDC issued[[link removed]] a revised eviction moratorium in August “temporarily halt[ing] evictions in counties with heightened levels of community transmission.”. The new order[[link removed]] was set to expire on October 3, 2021.
Unfortunately the new CDC order renewed the legal challenges surrounding the old order. On August 26, the Supreme Court ruled[[link removed]] 6-3 to vacate the original stay issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The decision to vacate the stay means that the CDC eviction moratorium is “no longer legally enforceable[[link removed]] while the case is pending appeal.” Despite the still raging pandemic, landlords can now move to initiate eviction proceedings for tenants. Research has shown that the moratorium reduced evictions[[link removed]]. Now, without this protection, vulnerable renters risk losing their homes and face homelessness.
 

Announcements

 
Register Today[[link removed]] for the 2021 McKinney-Vento Awards!
 
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Save the Date for the Quarterly HNH Web Convening
The quarterly Housing Not Handcuffs Web Convening will take place at 2 PM EST/11 AM PST on October 21. The web convening allows HNH endorsers and supporters to share their work and priorities with the Law Center and broader HNH network. Please register here[[link removed]], and reach out to Lily Milwit at [email protected][mailto:[email protected]] with questions or agenda items. 
 
Stay Up to Date!
Check out the Law Center in the News[[link removed]] section of our website to see coverage of our staff and of our work in communities across the country. Additionally, make sure to subscribe to our organizational news letter In Just Times[[link removed]], check out press releases[[link removed]] from the Law Center, and follow our social media[[link removed]]!
 
HNH Campaign / Organizational Resources
This one pager[[link removed]] provides an overview of the HNH Campaign and outlines concrete ways for people to get involved. It also includes a fact sheet on the criminalization of homelessness. This tool is useful to share with people who are already familiar with homelessness issues and are looking for more information about the HNH Campaign. Additional resources can be found here[[link removed]].
 
Resources, news, and initiatives by the Law Center regarding Coronavirus can be found at our Coronavirus hub[[link removed]].
 
Campaign Branding 

We encourage campaign endorsers to link relevant events to the national Housing Not Handcuffs campaign. Please see the guidelines for branding your materials here[[link removed]].  

 

 

 

 
 

 
This newsletter was designed, drafted, and distributed by the
National Homelessness Law Center
nlchp.org[[link removed]]
 
on behalf of the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign
housingnothandcuffs.org[[link removed]]
 

 

 
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