MORGANTOWN — The city of Morgantown has more laws on the books about sleeping in its parks than it does about sleeping on its downtown sidewalks.
As long as you’re not blocking a public right of way, city code contains no specific prohibition on camping or sleeping anywhere other than public parks. Leadership with the Morgantown Police Department confirmed as much to The Dominion Post in March 2023.
City Councilor Louise “Weez” Michael would like to change that.
She’s asked council to consider expanding the ban on sleeping/camping spelled out in code section 941.05, which deals specifically with parks and recreation facilities, to include residential properties, city streets, alleys and sidewalks.
Michael raised the issue during her remarks at the end of the July 2 meeting, days after the Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court gave political bodies the legal breathing room to take such steps.
In the decision, the court said it is not a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment for local government to enforce laws against sleeping or camping in public spaces as long as the laws in question criminalize that activity and not the status of being homeless.
Meaning, as the majority opinion explained, “It makes no difference whether the charged defendant is homeless, a backpacker on vacation passing through town, or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building.”
Critics argue the real-world result will be the de facto criminalization of homelessness.
In an open letter co-signed by the ACLU of West Virginia, Project Rainbow, Morgantown Pride, the 17th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corp., League of Women Voters and Milan Puskar Health Right, Mountain State Justice said camping bans do not and cannot address the root causes of homelessness.
“If council’s goal is to combat homelessness, it must come to terms with the truth that the path is neither straight nor easy, but that saving lives is worth the effort. If council’s goal is to further stigmatize, punish, and traumatize the most vulnerable people in our community — those with the least power to change their material conditions — then Councilor Michael’s proposition will do just that. Notably, both paths are trod at the taxpayers’ expense.”
Mountain State Justice is a statewide nonprofit legal services and advocacy organization.
In May, the group used a federal lawsuit to successfully pressure the city into repealing a prohibition on panhandling that had been on the books since 2005.
Michael said her request comes on behalf of city residents and business owners who want to see the city address “an immediate and serious safety and health issue” downtown.
“I believe this council wants to help and cares what happens to all citizens, but we can no longer wish these issues to go away,” she said, reading from a prepared statement.
“We are a kind and compassionate city council who welcomes everyone, but at this time, the appearance is that this community’s kindness has been taken advantage of. We need to send a strong message that the city will no longer tolerate nefarious behavior.”
Michael said the city needs to be responsive to its residents, its business community and those in need of assistance.
She asked that the matter be included on a future committee of the whole agenda.
“By amending 941.05, I believe we have an opportunity to save lives by getting people off the streets and offer the help and services that are desperately needed.”
