Three homeless men filed a class action lawsuit in U.S. District court against the city of Gresham after they were issued 90-day exclusion notices by Gresham Police for unlawful camping. Because they were banned from parks and trails, the lawsuit claims the men were deprived of due process and of their First Amendment rights to free speech and expression. The suit also alleges the officers told the men that they were excluded from public libraries in Gresham.
In 2004, a U.S. District Judge in Portland ruled the city's 50-year-old ordinance used to exclude people from public parks was unconstitutional.
If you feel you should be included in this pending class action, please contact Edward Johnson of the Oregon Law Center in Portland.
