In July 2023, the ACLU of Hawaiʻi filed a lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu challenging sweeps and other so-called enforcement actions that disrupt and disenfranchise unsheltered residents of Oahu.
The ACLU of Hawaiʻi along with civil rights firm, Goldstein Borgen Dardarian & Ho, filed the lawsuit in Hawaiʻi's First Circuit Court on behalf of five plaintiffs who have been dispossessed, displaced, and criminalized by the City simply for existing in public spaces. The lawsuit asserts that the City—through its sweeps—is violating various constitutional rights of our clients, including the right to be free of cruel or unusual punishment, and the fundamental rights of free movement and due process.
Plaintiffs will seek class certification in this case, which would potentially guarantee relief for the roughly 2,300 other involuntarily houseless individuals on Oʻahu.
