On January 22, the Homeless Persons Legal Assistance Project (HPLAP) filed and served a lawsuit on the City of Santa Cruz challenging the constitutionality of the recently passed parks “stay away order” ordinance, Municipal Code Section 13.08.100. HPLAP is bringing this suit on behalf of the homeless community for whom City of Santa Cruz parks and beach areas are traditionally places of rest, relaxation and communal association.

The Complaint alleges in part that “the activities (use of parks and open spaces for free assembly) … are protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and by the California Constitution and Defendants’ restrictions as to place, time and manner embodied in Section 13.08.100 are not reasonable under the circumstances.” It further alleges that “the ordinance as applied to Plaintiff’s activities … are based upon violations of other municipal ordinances which are so vague that they violate the due process standards as set forth in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States in that a person of ordinary intelligence cannot reasonably know what he or she is legally permitted to do under the statutes as applied.”

The ordinance had its second and final reading before City Council on January 13 and will go into effect thirty days thereafter by operation of law.

Read More | See Also: Open Letter to Mayor Lane Re: Compassion and Actions vs Words

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