UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SHANEL PROCTOR, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Case No. 1:18-cv-701 (TNM) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Three current and former homeless individuals challenge the District of Columbia’s protocol for clearing encampments located throughout the City. They contend that the District destroys unabandoned but unattended belongings during these clearings in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Plaintiffs also raise a Fifth Amendment claim, arguing that the District does not provide adequate notice of clearings or the procedures. Their arguments’ Achilles heel, however, is that the protocol has never injured them. Both parties cross-move for summary judgment. On this record, none of the Plaintiffs can show that the injury they fear from the District’s clearing policy—loss of wanted and unattended property—is impending. At least four events must occur before the Plaintiffs could possibly sustain any injury. So Plaintiffs lack standing to seek an injunction or declaratory relief against the District’s current practices. They also cannot recover from the District for prior clearings. Although all three Plaintiffs have experienced multiple District clearings, only one Plaintiff claims to have lost wanted property, once. But the undisputed record shows that the District complied with the Fourth Amendment for that clearing because it stored her belongings. The evidence also shows that this Plaintiff had actual notice of the clearing before it took place, which satisfies the Fifth Amendment. In any event, there is no custom, policy, or practice to justify holding the District liable for the claimed constitutional violations. The Court will grant the District’s motion for summary judgment. I. A. In the District, homeless individuals often create “encampments”: temporary abodes or “accumulation[s] of personal belongings” that are located throughout the City. See Third Am. Compl. ¶ 34, ECF No. 125 (cleaned up). Unauthorized camping is illegal under D.C. regulations. See 24 DCMR § 121.1. But the District does not prosecute homeless people under this code. It instead conducts “clearings” of the encampments to address the health and safety risks that they pose and to maintain clean public spaces. 1 Pls.’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts (“Pls.’ SUMF”) ¶ 30, ECF No. 126-1; Dep. Tr. of Joseph Melder 143:20–22, 147:16–19, ECF No. 99-3. 2 Encampment clearings are necessary for the public, including the homeless, because encampments may include garbage “that attracts rodents and other vermin,” “[h]uman waste and risk of the spread of disease,” and [p]ublic health risks from rodent urine and droppings.” Decl. of Elizabeth 1 The District employs the term “cleanings,” not “clearings.” See Def.’s Mem. of P. & A. in Supp. Opp’n to Pls.’ Mot. Summ. J. & Cross-Mot. Summ. J. (“Def.’s Mem.”) at 12 n.11, ECF No. 132-1 (describing disagreement with “clearing” term and noting that the “District does not use the word ‘clearing’ because that is not what happens here”). In deference to Plaintiffs’ right to frame their complaint, the Court will use “clearing” throughout unless quoting the District. 2 All page citations, except for deposition transcripts, refer to the page numbers that …
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