Utah court upholds dismissal of lawsuit on Salt Lake City’s handling of homelessness

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court is upholding a 3rd District judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit that alleged Salt Lake City wasn’t doing enough to address crime and homelessness in the city.

In a unanimous decision handed down Thursday, the state’s top court agreed that Utah’s capital city is protected by the “public duty doctrine,” which justices note “precludes claims against government actors for any alleged failure to adequately perform their public duties.”

“We acknowledge the difficult realities that residents are experiencing due to the actions unsheltered people are taking on and near their properties. But our sincere sympathy to those difficulties cannot dictate how we apply the law,” Utah Supreme Court Justice Matthew Durrant wrote in the ruling.

A group of Salt Lake residents and business owners filed the lawsuit against Salt Lake City in 2023, outlining issues they’ve had because of homelessness and crime in the city. They described acts of violence and the use of illegal drugs outside their homes and businesses, as well as cases of theft, vandalism or public defecation, among other things.

“This case is about whether Salt Lake City may lawfully create public and private nuisances on the streets, sidewalks, and public parks that it owns and controls by allowing homeless encampments to proliferate in violation of existing city ordinances and state laws,” the lawsuit alleged.

The city pushed back against the claims by primarily pointing to Utah’s public duty doctrine. ACLU Utah, in coordination with a few other groups, also filed an amicus brief in support of people experiencing homelessness, arguing that requirements to forcibly relocate people and other law tactics would “violate unhoused people’s rights.”

Third District Judge Andrew Stone ultimately tossed the lawsuit, citing the doctrine.

“Bringing a public nuisance claim against a government actor does not exempt the plaintiffs from showing that a duty is owed to them individually,” Stone wrote last year. “The plaintiffs here have failed to establish that the city owes them a special duty to remedy or ‘control’ unsheltered encampments beyond that owed to the general public.”

Utah Supreme Court justices agree, after reviewing the case that was appealed to them. While they acknowledged the plaintiffs’ plight, they pointed to several legal precedents in their decision to uphold the ruling.

Salt Lake officials celebrated the ruling on Thursday, which they say reaffirms that “complex policy matters” are best addressed by locally elected officials and policy experts, and not the courts.

“We recognize the very real impacts chronic homelessness can have on residents, businesses and unsheltered individuals alike, and we remain committed above all to responding with compassion and accountability,” said Andrew Wittenberg, spokesman for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, in a statement to KSL.com.

Salt Lake City has ramped up efforts to address crime and homelessness in the city since the initial court decision was handed down, after state leaders chimed in on the issue. In a letter to Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall late last year, Gov. Spencer Cox and Utah Legislature leaders chastised the policing and criminal justice “inadequacies” that they said created “escalating public safety challenges” reported to them daily by residents and business leaders.

Mendenhall released a new public safety plan earlier this year, outlining several changes the city would make internally and calling on reforms in other areas of the criminal justice system outside of the city’s control. The mayor reported earlier in Julythat “progress” has been made in implementing the plan, but called on assistance from outside entities.

“We cannot keep doing this alone. This crisis demands sustainable, long-term funding from the state to meet the scale of this challenge in the fastest-growing state in this nation,” she said.

Cox said he’s been encouraged by the progress, adding that the state is also not done in its work to help cities address housing, homelessness and addiction issues.

 

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