A few days before Christmas, a small homeless shelter in northwestern North Carolina received the best present it could have imagined: a victory awarding it the right to open. The Catherine H. Barber Memorial Shelter, represented by IJ, won its lawsuit against the town of North Wilkesboro, which had invoked bogus reasons to stop the shelter from opening. A federal judge cut through the irrationality and declared the town’s actions unconstitutional. It is a momentous decision not just for the Barber Shelter but also for other property owners restrained by draconian zoning boards.
