“Unhealthy By Design:” CU Denver’s New Report About Camping Ban
Denver, CO – In less than a month, Denver residents will get to vote on an unprecedented ballot initiative in the United States, which would effectively make it illegal to criminalize people who are without housing. To substantiate I-300, also known as the Right to Survive, the chair of the University of Colorado Denver Political Science Department, Dr. Tony Robinson, and a graduate student in Health and Behavioral Sciences, Marisa Westbrook, wrote a report called Unhealthy By Design: Public Health Consequences of Denver’s Criminalization of Homeless (PDF).
Dr. Robinson and Westbrook presented their research at a release event on April 13, 2019, which Unicorn Riot covered live. You can watch the stream below:
This initiative is nearly identical to the Homeless Bill of Rights (HBR), also known as the Right to Rest Act, which Denver Homeless Out Loud sponsored and advocated for in the Colorado General Assembly four years in a row (failing each time.)
Both the initiative and the HBR include the following rights:
- “To rest and shelter oneself from the elements in a non-obstructive manner in outdoor public spaces
- To eat, share, accept or give free food in any public space where food is not prohibited
- To occupy one’s own legally parked motor vehicle, or occupy a legally parked motor vehicle belonging to another, with the owner’s permission
- To have a right and expectation of privacy and safety of or in one’s person and property”
Both would also effectively overturn the Unauthorized Camping Ordinance (PDF) in Denver, which went into effect in 2012. Also known by advocates as the “Survival Ban,” the ordinance effectively makes surviving without housing illegal:
“It shall be unlawful for any person to camp upon any private [or public] property without the express written consent of the property owner or the owner’s agent, and only in such location where camping may be conducted in accordance with any other applicable city law.
‘Camp’ means to reside or dwell temporarily in a place, with shelter. The term ‘shelter’ includes, without limitation, any tent, tarpaulin, lean-to, sleeping bag, bedroll, blankets, or any other form of cover or protection from the elements other than clothing. The term ‘reside or dwell’ includes, without limitation, conducting such activities as eating, sleeping, or the storage of personal possessions.” – Sec. 38-86.2. (a) & (d)(1) of Municipal Code for City and County of Denver
Unicorn Riot will continue to provide updates on I-300, and other issues pertaining to people without housing.
Unicorn Riot coverage on Denver’s housing crisis and unhoused community:
- Crisis of the Unhoused – Landing Page for Unicorn Riot Coverage
- Denver Passes ‘No Freezing Sweeps’ Bill, Potential Mayor Veto Looms (February 2, 2024)
- With Nearly 60 Frostbite Injuries in Unhoused Community, Advocates Encourage Denver to Do Better (December 21, 2022)
- Sit-in at Denver Recreation Center Leads to Meeting with City (March 23, 2022)
- Unhoused Community & Advocates Take Over Denver Recreation Center (March 10, 2022)
- Federal Judge Rules Denver Cannot Conduct Sweeps Without At Least 48-Hour Written Notice (Jan. 30, 2021)
- Denver Sweeps 300+ Tent Encampment Residents (Nov. 30, 2020)
- Seven Arrested at Action Against Houseless Sweeps (Nov. 20, 2020)
- Unhoused Residents Find Refuge at Downtown Vigil (Oct. 17, 2020)
- Denver Housing Advocates Launch 5256-Minute Vigil at City Hall (Oct. 14, 2020)
- Denver ‘Clean-ups’ Displace 100+ Unhoused Residents Amid Health Crisis (April 30, 2020)
- Housing First Advocates Protest USICH Director Marbut’s Visit to Denver (Feb. 21, 2020)
- Denver Police Cash In on Houseless Encampment Clean-Ups (Feb. 5, 2020)
- Judge Rules Denver’s Camping Ban Unconstitutional, Dismisses Jerry Burton’s Ban Ticket (Jan. 3, 2020)
- Advocates Demand Denver Protect Rights of People Without Homes (Oct. 21, 2019)
- Denver’s ‘Right to Survive’ Ballot Initiative Voted Down (May 9, 2019)
- “Unhealthy By Design:” CU Denver’s New Report About Camping Ban (April 13, 2019)
- Denver Paid Clean-Up Company $400,000 to Help in Houseless Sweeps (Nov. 27, 2018)
- Denver Police, City Workers Throw Away Belongings Amid Lawsuit (July 16, 2018)
- Class-Action Against Denver for Criminalizing Houselessness Moves Forward (May 11, 2018)
- Fourth Push for Homeless Bill of Rights in Colorado Legislature (March 14, 2018)
- First Lawsuit Hearing for Mobile Home Park Residents Suing Park Owners (March 2, 2018)
- Denver’s First Tiny Home Village ‘Beloved Community Village’ Turns Six Months Old (January 19, 2018)
- Denver Park Rangers Take Sleeping Bag, Tent from Houseless Man in 25 Degree Weather (November 12, 2017)
- Eighty Families Offer to Purchase Mobile Home Park to Avoid Eviction (September 25, 2017)
- Denver Human Rights Activist and Community Organizer, Terese Howard, Faces Up to 30 Days in Jail (August 24, 2017)
- Class-Action Lawsuit Against Denver: Motions Filed for Summary Judgement (August 15, 2017)
- U.S. District Court of CO Certifies One of the Largest Houseless Class-Actions in U.S. History (April 29, 2017)
- Three Convicted in Camping Ban Trial Two Weeks Ahead of Right to Rest Act Hearing (April 18, 2017)
- Three Co-Defendants Fight Denver’s Camping Ban in Court (April 4, 2017)
- Third Push for Homeless Bill of Rights in Colorado Legislature (Feb. 24, 2017)
- With Mayor’s Approval, Denver Continues Survival Gear Confiscations (Dec. 16, 2016)
- Denver to Continue Confiscating Survival Gear of Unhoused Under Encumbrance Ordinance, to Stop Under Camping Ban (Dec. 11, 2016)
- Denver Intensifies Sweeps of Unhoused Community and Confiscates Survival Gear; Parade of Rights Rally (Dec. 4, 2016)
- First Hearing in Class-Action Against Denver for Violating Human Rights (Oct. 14, 2016)
- Class-Action Lawsuit Against Denver: Motion Filed for Recusal of Judge Shaffer (Sept. 22, 2016)
- People Without Housing File Lawsuit Against the City of Denver (Aug. 27, 2016)
- Denver’s Affordable Housing Displaces Low-Income Residents (June 20, 2016)
- City of Denver Cracks Down on its Homeless Community (Dec. 20, 2015)
- Homeless Forced Out of Tents and into Snowstorm by Denver Police (Dec. 16, 2015)
- Resurrection Village: Denver Police Destroy Tiny Homes and Arrest Builders (Oct. 27, 2015)
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