Phoenix is now facing a second lawsuit over its controversial new parks ordinance, which cracks down on groups that feed and provide medical treatment to homeless people in city parks.
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On Monday, two nonprofits sued the city in federal court, claiming the new ordinance violates the First Amendment. The ordinance, which went into effect earlier this month, bars charitable food distribution and medical treatment in city parks, requiring mutual aid groups to obtain relatively scarce permits to continue their activities.
The nonprofit plaintiffs are Valle del Sol and Circle the City. Valle del Sol has harm reduction teams who run needle exchanges, while Circle the City provides medical care to homeless people. Both organizations run their programs in Phoenix parks. (New Times reported on Circle the City’s efforts to provide care to unhoused people in April.) They are being represented by the Arizona Center for Law and Public Interest, the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, and the National Homelessness Law Center.
In the lawsuit, the organizations argued that the ordinance violates their First Amendment rights because it targets people and groups who do charitable work.
“Because the Ordinance’s sweeping restrictions are content-based — restricting the provision of charitable medical care, but not the provision of all food and medical care in public parks — the Ordinance violates the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause both facially and as-applied to Circle the City and Valle del Sol,” the complaint reads.
The two organizations express their beliefs and missions through their street medicine and needle exchange programs in city parks, the complaint argued. For Circle the City, the guiding principle is to meet people “where they are.” For Valle del Sol, their harm reduction programs serve “as a direct expression of their belief that (1) every person has inherent value and deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and positive regard, and (2) traditional healthcare systems are not meeting the needs of the unhoused.”
They also argued that the permitting process is an unconstitutional prior restraint and that a state law allowing harm reduction programs like Valle del Sol’s trumps the city’s ordinance. They are asking the courts to prohibit the city from enforcing the ordinance. They also want the courts to declare that the state law allowing needle exchanges takes precedence over the city ordinance. They are asking for immediate relief, in the form of a preliminary injunction, while their case plays out in court.
Both organizations argued that their regular presence in parks, which would be greatly restricted or not possible under the permit process, is necessary for their work and builds trust with the people who use their services.
“Access to medical care should never depend on whether a person has a home,” said Kim Despres and Sister Adele O’Sullivan, CEO and founder of Circle the City, in a statement. “Circle the City is taking this action because we believe every member of our community deserves the opportunity to access medical care that is provided with dignity, compassion and respect.”
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Mike Renaud, president and CEO of Valle del Sol, said in the release that the ordinance interferes with their work and does more harm than good.
“Rather than expanding pathways to treatment and stability, it creates additional obstacles for vulnerable individuals seeking healthcare and support,” he said.
The ordinance, which was passed by the city council on May 6 and went into effect on June 7, makes it a misdemeanor to provide medical care or distribute food in city parks without a permit. It bans needle exchanges and medical care with needles altogether. Groups or individuals must apply for permits — there are two available per approved park each month — in order to continue that work.
Spokespersons for Phoenix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is the second First Amendment lawsuit filed against the city over the ordinance, and the first case filed by secular organizations. The city is also being sued by St. Herman’s Table, a ministry of a Christian Orthodox church, and its founder and minister, Lance Brace.
Last week, a federal judge granted Brace and St. Herman’s Table a temporary restraining order that prevents the city from enforcing the ordinance against the organization. In her ruling, the judge wrote that St. Herman’s Table makes a strong case that the ordinance violates the group’s right to free exercise of religion. However, that ruling applied only to St. Herman’s Table and the judge pointedly did not rule on the ordinance’s prohibition of medical care in city parks.
In the press release, the nonprofits said they were glad about the judge’s ruling in the St. Herman’s Table case, but it wasn’t enough.
“A broader order is necessary to ensure all organizations can urgently meet needs in our community, continuing to provide critical medical care in addition to food,” the press release reads.
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