Seattle Municipal Court Presiding Judge Karen Donahue has rejected a homeless man’s challenge that the tow and impound, and associated costs and fees, of a vehicle he was living in violated his constitutional and homestead rights.
This case arose from the issuance of a 72-hour notice that was placed on the man’s vehicle, which was illegally parked on City property in South Seattle for more than 72 hours. Even though the Seattle Police Department provided the individual with four more days to move his vehicle, and even though it was functioning properly, he chose not to move it. That provided the predicate for a novel legal attack on the City’s struggle to control car camping – another dimension of Seattle’s homeless problem.
Judge Donahue ruled: (1) that the tow and impound were proper under Seattle law; (2) that SPD’s compliance with City law was not arbitrary; (3) that the City did not violate the homestead rights by towing and impounding the vehicle; and (4) that any costs associated with the tow and impound were not “excessive fines” under the Eight Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In so ruling, Judge Donahue recognized that the City has “an inherent interest in the uniform application of its traffic and parking ordinances,” and she declined to “create a particular class or group of persons that can ignore the traffic and parking laws of the City.”
While sympathetic to the homeless man’s difficulties, City Attorney Pete Holmes, like the judge, pointed to the political and policy process as the source of change. “Public safety is paramount in our mission,” Holmes said, “even as the City devotes more and more resources to alleviating the plight of the homeless. Collateral attacks on the City’s comprehensive efforts to provide services and manage impacts throughout the City are not helpful.”
The case is City of Seattle v. Steven Gregory Long, Seattle Municipal Court No. 203641306