{"id":312,"date":"2026-05-20T06:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T06:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=312"},"modified":"2026-05-20T06:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T06:03:15","slug":"colorado-appeals-court-sides-with-boulder-in-camping-ban-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=312","title":{"rendered":"Colorado appeals court sides with Boulder in camping ban challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld the City of Boulder\u2019s camping ban ordinance, rejecting arguments that the law violated the constitutional rights of unhoused residents who cannot access indoor shelter.<\/p>\n

Read more Boulder County advances wildlife crossing plans on U.S. 36 as Colorado nears new funding source<\/a><\/p>\n

The ruling is a blow to a lengthy effort by civil rights advocates to halt enforcement of the ordinance, first adopted in 1980, which allows police officers to ticket homeless people for sleeping in public spaces with \u201cany cover or protection from the elements other than clothing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2022, the ACLU of Colorado sued the city on behalf of Feet Forward, a now-dissolved homelessness services organization, and several homeless residents, arguing the camping ban ordinance violated the Colorado Constitution\u2019s protections against cruel and unusual punishment, freedom of movement and use of public spaces, and due process protections against \u201cstate-created danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-judge panel, in a May 14 opinion authored by Judge Eric Kuhn with Judges Terry Fox and Grant T. Sullivan concurring, found no constitutional violation on any of the three grounds. In several instances, the opinion acknowledged the challenging circumstances of several plaintiffs before ruling against them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoulder\u2019s residents without a safe place to rest indoors understandably may seek to shelter on public property,\u201d Judge Kuhn wrote. \u201cBut no matter how sympathetic their plight, these circumstances alone don\u2019t create new state constitutional rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The decision is the latest and perhaps most significant setback for the case, following the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s 2024 ruling in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson upholding the constitutionality of a similar ordinance. Boulder County District Court initially allowed the case to proceed before dismissing it under the Grants Pass precedent. The plaintiffs appealed to the Court of Appeals. They could appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court and said they are considering their legal options.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs\u2019 core argument following the Grants Pass decision was that Colorado\u2019s constitutional protection against cruel and unusual punishment is broader than its federal counterpart, the Eighth Amendment. The judges said they were not persuaded.<\/p>\n

In Grants Pass, the Supreme Court ruled that a similar Oregon ordinance did not constitute cruel and unusual punishment because it targeted conduct, such as sleeping outside, and not the status of homelessness.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs in the Boulder case argued the line between conduct and status is sometimes \u201cinseparable\u201d when the conduct is necessary for survival.<\/p>\n

Several plaintiffs were homeless people who were unable to access the city\u2019s main shelter, All Roads, in North Boulder. According to the complaint, one plaintiff had four dogs, which are not allowed at the shelter. Another worked at a local restaurant and could not return to the shelter during its intake window. Additionally, a 2022 Boulder Reporting Lab analysis of police records also found people were ticketed for camping on days when All Roads, then called the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, turned people away because it was full.<\/p>\n

The court acknowledged the tension, stating that \u201creasonable minds can disagree\u201d on the distinction between status and conduct. But the judges concluded that homelessness is not involuntary in all instances, citing \u201ca complex web of factors and individual circumstances\u201d that contribute to it, including \u201cpreferences, comfort level, work schedules, relationship status, and having animal companions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe appreciate the tension in differentiating between a person\u2019s conduct and status when their conduct involves basic activities for survival due to an involuntary status,\u201d Judge Kuhn wrote. \u201cThat said, there is no precedent establishing that a person should be treated under our constitution as if they have a medical condition \u2014 effectively \u2018an illness or infirmity\u2019 \u2014 based on their inability to access or afford indoor shelter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plaintiffs also argued that the right to freedom of movement under Colorado\u2019s constitution includes a right for people with no access to indoor shelter to sleep on public property. The court disagreed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The court found that Boulder demonstrated a legitimate public health reason for enforcing the camping ban. In previous court filings, the city said the ordinance helps prevent \u201ctent cities,\u201d which it argued deprive others of the ability to use public lands and raise the potential for public health problems related to \u201centire communities disconnected from the city\u2019s water and sewer systems and without trash collection service.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA resident occupying public property to shelter for sleep and rest necessarily interferes with every other resident\u2019s ability to traverse, use, and enjoy that same space,\u201d Judge Kuhn wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lastly, the plaintiffs alleged that by prohibiting unhoused people from sheltering outdoors, Boulder\u2019s ordinances exposed them to harm from the elements. The court rejected this \u201cstate-created danger\u201d argument, stating that it requires harm inflicted by a third-party person, not by the environment.<\/p>\n

Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, said in a statement that the organization was disappointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a devastating, though hopefully only temporary, blow to the promise of the Colorado Constitution, to the rights of our unhoused neighbors, and to the lives and safety of everyone at risk of homelessness \u2014 which can happen to anyone,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Macdonald said Boulder is one of the most expensive cities in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of directly addressing this glaring crisis of unaffordability, some local governments want to double down on punitive measures meant to merely sweep poverty from public view,\u201d he said. \u201cThis state-sponsored attack on survival continues to be unconscionable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City of Boulder said in a statement that it appreciates the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHomelessness remains a serious and complex issue, and the city will continue working with service providers and regional partners to connect people with shelter, housing pathways and support,\u201d the statement read. \u201cBoulder\u2019s approach will continue to balance compassion for individuals experiencing homelessness with accountability for maintaining shared public spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Boulder Market Meals: Meet the green alliums brightening spring cooking<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A judge said homeless people \u2018understandably may seek to shelter on public property,\u2019 but the ban did not violate the Colorado Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-housing","tag-camping-ban"],"yoast_head":"\nColorado appeals court sides with Boulder in camping ban challenge - Boulder Moving Guide<\/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:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=312\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Colorado appeals court sides with Boulder in camping ban challenge - 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