A Josephine County judge on Monday ordered the city of Grants Pass to stop taking any enforcement against homeless campers for two weeks, pending a deeper review of a new legal challenge.
Disability Rights Oregon filed a lawsuit last Thursday to halt the City of Grants Pass from closing one of two sanctioned homeless camps and restricting the hours of the other.
Josephine County Circuit Judge Brandon S. Thueson signed a temporary restraining order that prohibits the City of Grants Pass from citing, arresting, detaining, fining or otherwise prosecuting any person for camping anywhere in the city for the next 14 days. The order will temporarily allow camping in city parks.
The judge signed the order after hearing argument for about one hour. Tom Swenson, deputy legal director of Disability Rights Oregon, praised his decision. Disability Rights Oregon, joined by the Oregon Law Center, filed a suit on behalf of five people ages 47 to 66 who live with disabilities.
Since August, the Grants Pass City Council has required all homeless people to stay at one of two sites in the city. In January, the Council decided to restrict camping further, voting to close the larger of the two sites, known as the J Street site. At the same time, the council restricted the hours at the much smaller remaining camp on Seventh Street to overnight camping only.
There are an estimated 300 to 400 people camping in Grants Pass, according to Disability Rights Oregon. The lawsuit alleged that the closure of one of two acceptable camping sites in the city violated state law and is not "objectively reasonable as to time, place and manner."
Stenson said his advocacy group had approached the city many times to caution against closure of one of two remaining camping sites without providing an alternative.