{"id":230,"date":"2026-06-16T04:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=230"},"modified":"2026-06-16T04:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T04:05:09","slug":"phoenix-sued-again-over-parks-ordinance-restricting-homeless-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=230","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix sued again over parks ordinance restricting homeless aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In the lawsuit, the organizations argued that the ordinance violates their First Amendment rights because it targets people and groups who do charitable work.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the Ordinance\u2019s sweeping restrictions are content-based \u2014 restricting the provision of charitable medical care, but not the provision of all food and medical care in public parks \u2014 the Ordinance violates the First Amendment\u2019s Free Speech Clause both facially and as-applied to Circle the City and Valle del Sol,\u201d the complaint reads.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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 \u201cwhere they are.\u201d For Valle del Sol, their harm reduction programs serve \u201cas 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s trumps the city\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAccess to medical care should never depend on whether a person has a home,\u201d said Kim Despres and Sister Adele O\u2019Sullivan, CEO and founder of Circle the City, in a statement. \u201cCircle 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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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.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than expanding pathways to treatment and stability, it creates additional obstacles for vulnerable individuals seeking healthcare and support,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 there are two available per approved park each month \u2014 in order to continue that work.<\/p>\n

Spokespersons for Phoenix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Table, a ministry of a Christian Orthodox church, and its founder and minister, Lance Brace.<\/p>\n

Last week, a federal judge granted Brace and St. Herman\u2019s 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\u2019s Table makes a strong case that the ordinance violates the group\u2019s right to free exercise of religion. However, that ruling applied only to St. Herman\u2019s Table and the judge pointedly did not rule on the ordinance\u2019s prohibition of medical care in city parks.<\/p>\n

In the press release, the nonprofits said they were glad about the judge\u2019s ruling in the St. Herman\u2019s Table case, but it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 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,\u201d the press release reads.<\/p>\n

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Circle the City and Valle del Sol are taking Phoenix to court over the ordinance, claiming it violates the First Amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courts"],"yoast_head":"\nPhoenix sued again over parks ordinance restricting homeless aid - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=230\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Phoenix sued again over parks ordinance restricting homeless aid - Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Circle the City and Valle del Sol are taking Phoenix to court over the ordinance, claiming it violates the First Amendment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=230\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Phoenix Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T04:05:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b18a6d477e57bdeec7b4b61a70eace7b\"},\"headline\":\"Phoenix sued again over parks ordinance restricting homeless aid\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T04:05:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230\"},\"wordCount\":866,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b3ce06ba09725634165be79fcddee635.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Courts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=230\",\"name\":\"Phoenix sued again over parks ordinance restricting homeless aid - 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