On March 30, 2017, an organization called Tent City Alternative to LSD Viaducts and a community resident activist submitted a Notification of Public Assembly to the City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings. They requested a permit to erect tents on behalf of the homeless population, who would be displaced by construction. The City granted a permit as to the location for the duration sought, but without a provision that would allow the erection of tents. On May 17, the plaintiffs responded by filing a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

On June 15, 2017, the defendant City of Chicago removed the action to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The case was assigned to Judge Sidney Schenkier. In September, the court granted a motion to change the name of the plaintiffs to The Uptown Tent City Organizers. The Uptown Tent City Organizers is an unincorporated association of community members, some of whom reside in tents under the viaducts near Lake Shore Drive.

On August 1, the plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201 and 2202 against the Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings, Chicago Department of Transportation, and City of Chicago. The first amended complaint claimed that denial of the permit to erect tents violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights to public assembly, Eighth Amendment rights against cruel and unusual punishment, and rights under state law. The plaintiffs sought a reversal of the city's decision to deny the permit (granting the application for an assembly permit to run for a period of six months), declaratory relief, injunctive relief, and attorney's fees and costs.

On August 27, the plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the construction work from occurring that would displace the homeless community. On September 15, Judge Sidney I. Schenkier denied the motion on the basis that the government did not have the constitutional obligation to provide individuals with a place to live and the community did not have a contractual right to live under the viaducts.

On November 7, the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint to add federal constitutional violations under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments and a state claim of violation of the Illinois Homeless Act. The amended complaint included details of events that precipitated in September between the plaintiffs and local law enforcement. The plaintiffs again sought a reversal of the administrative hearing decision to deny the permits, declaratory relief, a permanent injunction, and attorney's fees and costs.

The defendants filed a motion to dismiss on January 19, 2018. Judge Schenkier granted this motion and dismissed the case with prejudice on June 5, 2018. The court held that the organization lacked standing because it failed to allege that any of its members would be personally harmed by the City's conduct. And the court dismissed the individual plaintiff's First Amendment claim because the plaintiff had not alleged that the proposed conduct would be expressive. Finally, the court declined to exercise jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims. 2018 WL 2709431.

The case is ongoing

Chelsea Rinnig - 01/30/2018
Alex Moody - 04/12/2020


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