Lawsuit says Pendleton discriminates against long-time residents, violates state laws
Five homeless women filed a lawsuit in state court challenging Pendleton’s policies targeting homeless residents. Oregon Law Center represents the women, and Legal Aid Services of Oregon also represents most of the plaintiffs. Pendleton bans “resting” anywhere in the city from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., under the threat of fines, citywide exclusions, and jail time.
The women plan to request a preliminary injunction, arguing that the city’s exclusion policies violate the Oregon constitution, Oregon’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment, as well as a law requiring that camping restrictions are reasonable.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s freezing and pouring rain, once it passes 6 a.m., there is nowhere in town you are allowed to shelter under a tent or tarp,” said plaintiff Laura Thornton, 44, who went to school in Pendleton and has lived there most of her life. “We need to be allowed to exist.”
Thornton has been ticketed and fined for being on public property in Pendleton, charged with criminal trespass, and barred from public parks and the library. In her court filing, she explains how city officials and police officers have told her to “find a different place to go” or go “to the county line.”
“The city is effectively telling people you’re not allowed to exist, period,” said Allison Nasson, legal fellow at Oregon Law Center. “Punishing people simply for being homeless hurts people who are already struggling and does nothing to solve the issue.”
Pendleton Police have issued over 300 citations to 172 people since May of 2023. In addition to the daytime ban on resting, overnight resting is severely limited and not allowed in public parks. When police officers determine someone is “resting” at a time or location that is not allowed, they issue an exclusion order banning the person from public ways, or from all city property, for 30 days. If someone violates an exclusion order, they may be charged with criminal trespass, which could mean up to 30 days in jail or a fine of $1,250. Their exclusion may also be extended for a year.
The plaintiffs are five women ranging from 39 to 63 years old who have been Pendleton residents for years. One in four people who are homeless are over 55 years old.
Plaintiff Wilynda Wardinski, 63, is a lifelong Oregonian. She was ticketed for criminal trespass after sitting on church steps with her dog. In her court filing, she says the police officer who ticketed her said “something to me like, ‘we don’t want your kind here.’ I said what kind– elderly and homeless? He told me I should leave town, go back where I came from.”
“Forcing people to move constantly and leave the only place they know does not end homelessness,” Nasson said. “These residents just want to exist in peace in the city they call home.”
Pendleton lacks affordable and market-rate housing. According to the City, one in five renters pays 50% or more of their income toward housing. There is also very little shelter for people who are unhoused. Pendleton’s one year-round shelter, the Promise Inn, has 37 beds. The Promise Inn only allows people to stay for 90 days at a time, requiring 30 days between stays. Guests must leave every morning at 9 a.m. and cannot check in until 5 p.m. Emergency seasonal shelter Neighbor 2 Neighbor has 26 overnight beds and limited daytime hours during extreme weather.
“Homelessness is on the rise in every city in Oregon because we simply do not have enough housing or shelter,” said Kit Morgan, board member of Neighbor 2 Neighbor and attorney at Intermountain Public Defender, Inc. “As a community, we have a choice: cruelty and punishment, or compassion and solutions. We must focus on what actually works to solve homelessness and that means increasing shelter, building affordable housing, and preventing homelessness in the first place.”
Statewide, Oregon has less than half the shelter beds needed. Rent assistance, and eviction protection have been severely underfunded for decades, and were recently cut by the Legislature. Recent federal cuts to Medicaid and the government shutdown are expected to increase the number of people forced to live outside in Oregon.
Oregon law requires that any restrictions on camping are reasonable. The law was passed on a bipartisan basis with support and input from Oregon cities and counties. In the 2024 Grants Pass v. Johnson decision, the Supreme Court specifically pointed to Oregon state law as an example of how states can manage public spaces amid a housing crisis.