Arizona once again finds itself at the center of a major legal battle over its rampant street homelessness. In May, the state’s Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling, finding that the city of Tucson can be held liable for failing to abate the “public nuisance” resulting from a homeless encampment.
It marks another legal setback for an Arizona city, and another win for those demanding stronger action on homelessness. Late last year, Phoenix officials agreed to a $300,000 settlement with business owners following litigation over the city’s handling of the sprawling encampment known as “The Zone.” Both cases reflect surging homeless populations: the number of people living on Tucson’s streets has grown by a factor of 3.5 since 2019, while unsheltered homelessness in Phoenix has risen by more than 60 percent over the same period.
The Phoenix and Tucson lawsuits mark significant developments in the broader effort to hold policymakers accountable for failing to address the street homelessness crisis. As more cities are forced to pay settlements or comply with consent decrees, it’s becoming harder for officials to evade their responsibility to maintain safe, clean streets, parks, and public spaces…