DENVER — Tents line W. 4th Ave. and Kalamath Street in Denver's Baker neighborhood, but not for long.
The City of Denver plans to sweep the encampment on Thursday.
Before that happens, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments that could eventually change the way all U.S. cities regulate homelessness.
Oral arguments for The City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson on Monday will determine whether camping bans violate the Constitution.
The case debates whether or not camping bans constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment when no alternative shelter is available.
“People are in constant fear that someone is going to show up and arrest them or move them along,” Amy Beck with Together Denver said.
Beck said enforcement is only getting stronger. She captured video of Denver police threatening to make arrests at a nearby encampment.
“Depending on the outcome of this case with the Supreme Court, it could get much worse,” Beck said.
Signs are posted at 4th Ave. and Kalamath Street, which alert people staying in the area to the sweep which will take place on Thursday, but many do not have other shelter options.
Civil rights lawyer Andy McNulty said in states like California and Washington, the ban can’t be enforced unless there are shelter beds available.
“I’d imagine that the court would probably overturn it and allow for criminalization of folks,” McNulty said, given the conservative super majority on the Supreme Court right now.
Beck believes criminalization isn’t the answer.
“To put people in jail and to continue to cycle them through, it just perpetuates the homeless problem,” Beck said.
But a nearby property owner told us she installed an 8-foot fence to keep crime out after problems from the encampment crept too close to her home.
And no matter what the Supreme Court decides, she hopes the sweeps will continue, until there is a better solution.
While the Supreme Court will start oral arguments on Monday, a decision likely won’t come until June or July.
