There was a flurry of activity yesterday and today between the lawyers for Black Lives Matter and the Seattle City Attorney’s office over the lawsuit filed earlier this week, which alleged that SPD’s response to the last several days of protests violated the protesters’ constitutional rights. Yesterday the plaintiffs filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) prohibiting the city from using “less lethal” crowd control weapons, including tear gas, on protestors. Today the city notified the court that it intends to oppose that motion, at the same time revealing that the two sides have been negotiating the terms …
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Seattle notches another win in court
Last Friday the City of Seattle got another win in court, as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to certify class-action status to a challenge to the city’s process of “sweeping” homeless encampments.
Continue readingJudge hands ACLU big setback in lawsuit over homelss encampments
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Martinez ruled against the ACLU on two motions it had filed in its case against the city and WSDOT over the ongoing “sweeps” of unsanctioned homeless encampments.
Continue readingJudge denies ACLU’s motion for temporary restraining order on sweeps
This afternoon U.S. District Court Chief Judge Ricardo Martinez issued an order denying the ACLU a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop WSDOT and the City of Seattle from seizing and destroying personal property without due process in cleaning up unsanctioned homeless encampments in Seattle.
Continue readingACLU files class-action lawsuit against Seattle and WSDOT for homeless sweeps
Today a class-action lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by the ACLU on behalf of Seattle’s homeless, against the City of Seattle and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). The suit charges that the city and WSDOT’s “sweeps” of homeless encampments violate the constitutional rights of the encampments’ residents by seizing and destroying the property of people who are living outside without adequate and effective notice, an opportunity to be heard, or a meaningful way to reclaim any property that was not destroyed.
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