Court Cases

In the spring of 2010, the ACLU of Alaska filed litigation challenging the Municipality of Anchorage's practice of seizing and destroying unhoused people's property with only twelve hours of notice. This case was filed on behalf of Dale Engle, a disabled veteran who lived in a campsite near upper Muldoon Road. Mr. Engle challenged the constitutionality of the Municipality's sweep law and practice on due process and unreasonable seizure grounds. The following summer, the Municipality amended the law to require five days of notice; however, Mr. Engle maintained that even five-days notice was inadequate under the Alaska Constitution. On January 1, 2010, the Superior Court decided in favor of Mr. Engle. "The fact that the homeless camps often house all of the worldly belongings of the individuals who live in them makes the preservation of the property that much more critical. . . . A homeless person whose property is destroyed suffers irreparable harm. There must be 'adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard' before denying the homeless of their property."