One of the ways Boulder belies its reputation as a liberal stronghold is through its camping ban, which overwhelmingly applies to the local homeless population. The law has long been subject to ethical doubts, even as city officials have persisted in defending it. But the legal and political landscape has recently changed, and apologies for the law have never seemed less persuasive.

Boulder’s continued enforcement of the camping ban is at the very least a bad look. At worst — both in a moral and a constitutional sense — it’s cruel.

Boulder enacted a camping ban in 1980. The city was among the first municipalities in the state to do so, and it is also among the most energetic in enforcing its camping ban. In the five years from 2010 through 2014, Boulder issued 1,767 no-camping citations, and 87% were issued to people experiencing homelessness. Last year alone police issued at least 530 such citations. Denver, with its much larger homeless population, started enforcing a camping ban in 2012, and since then only 33 people in that city received camping-ban tickets.

The Boulder no-camping ordinance says a person can’t “reside or dwell temporarily” in a public place using “shelter.” It specifies “eating and sleeping” as prohibited activities in connection with the ban, and it defines “shelter” as “any cover or protection from the elements other than clothing.”

Boulder has drawn special attention for its camping ban. In 2010, only months after the City Council voted to strengthen the ban, the ACLU sued the city on behalf of a plaintiff who was convicted of illegal camping after, having been turned away on a cold night at the packed local shelter, he was ticketed while resting outside in a sleeping bag. The ACLU called the ban “unfair and unconstitutional.” It lost the case, and the following year a divided Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal.

But other courts in recent years have seen things differently.

In December, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in Boise v. Martin, that said a Boise, Idaho, camping ban violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. A couple of weeks later, a Denver County judge ruled that Denver’s camping ban was unconstitutional on the same grounds, and Denver police ceased to enforce the ban pending the outcome of an appeal.

None of these decisions directly applies to Boulder, but they constitute strong legal momentum against the city’s own camping ban and validation of ethical objections to the law.

Defenders of Boulder’s camping ban point out that the decision in the Boise case involved instances when no other shelter is available, and shelter facilities in Boulder this cold season have yet to turn away any would-be clients due to capacity limits. But some people are denied access to shelters for other reasons — they might be banned as a disciplinary measure, for example. Others are wary of shelters and avoid them for personal safety.

Boulder, Longmont and Boulder County in 2017 launched a joint system for serving the area’s homeless population, and homeless clients are asked to enter the system by visiting a centralized processing site called “coordinated entry.” The first question clients must answer is whether they’ve resided in Boulder County for at least six months. If they have not, they are told they have a three-day limit on shelter services.

On any given night throughout the year, people experiencing homelessness in Boulder might find themselves — due to capacity limits, disciplinary action, non-resident status or some other reason — denied access to shelter facilities. What are they to do? Currently they risk citation simply for indulging the basic human need for sleep.

The City Council election in November installed two new members, Rachel Friend and Adam Swetlik, who have identified issues related to homelessness as a priority, and Friend has expressed reservations about the camping ban, especially in light of the recent court decisions.

All of this is not to say that people should sleep outside — rather it’s to assert that the essential human need for sleep should not be criminalized. The camping ban has the effect of doing just that. With recent legal precedents, new homelessness protocols, and fresh views on Council, it’s the right time for Boulder to reconsider its treatment of less-privileged fellow humans who are merely trying to survive.

Quentin Young, for the editorial board, quentin@dailycamera.com, @qpyoungnews.