The June 26 settlement with Jason Ploof also says the city will rewrite its trespass ordinance by year’s end, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, which represented Ploof along with attorney Justin Barnard of Dinse in Burlington.
“Our parks, especially central parks like City Hall Park, are something that belongs to everybody,” ACLU of Vermont staff attorney Jay Diaz told Seven Days. “We’re glad that the city going forward is going to take that more seriously than they have in the past, applying due process of law whenever they attempt to revoke people’s rights.”
In 2015, Burlington police ticketed and trespassed Ploof twice for having an open container in the park, the second time for 90 days. Police then arrested Ploof when they saw him conversing with friends near the fountain during that period, according to court documents.
With the ACLU of Vermont’s backing, Ploof contended that the banishment “unlawfully restricted [his] freedom to receive information and enter a traditional public forum, in violation of the First Amendment.” The suit survived the city’s attempts to dismiss it.
In a press release Tuesday, Ploof said he grew up visiting City Hall Park and that being banned “meant the loss of a core part of my identity and made me feel like an outcast in my hometown.
“I’m relieved I can continue to be a part of my community in this way,” he continued.
The two-page settlement also dictates provisions of the new ordinance. It says police must first issue a verbal warning and allow the subject to address the offending conduct before they’re ticketed. No-trespass orders must also spell out a procedure to challenge the ticket, according to the agreement.
The city must submit a draft of the ordinance to the Burlington City Council Ordinance Committee by September 1, according to the settlement.
This isn’t the first time Burlington’s trespass practices have been challenged in court. In 2014, two Burlington attorneys argued in a lawsuit that banning people from the Church Street Marketplace, a public space, is unconstitutional. But a judge tossed the suit, saying the plaintiffs had no legal standing to argue the case because neither had been personally trespassed from there.
And the ACLU is still litigating a suit on behalf of Brian Croteau, a homeless man who claims the city evicted him from his encampment and tossed all of his belongings. That case is in discovery, Diaz said.
“We think the city is interested in working with us,” he said. “We look forward to collaborating to ensure constitutional rights are upheld in the city of Burlington for everyone.”
Burlington City Attorney Eileen Blackwood said she’s “happy that the settlement was able to come together.
“We’ve been looking to update our trespass ordinance for some time but were held up because of the lawsuit,” she said. “Now that the lawsuit is resolved, we’re able to move forward with that, and we’re looking forward to having meetings with the ordinance committee and looking at some positive changes to keep our ordinances in line with what’s happening around the country with these kinds of trespass ordinances.”
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So this is what the ACLU is fighting for in Vermont . The right to turn public space into private toilets . Thanks Mr. Diaz .
I remember one time in the early 70’s when a few friends and I were kicked off the city hall steps from sitting on them. It was a Saturday and we weren’t bothering anyone. The Burlington Free Press did a story on it too. The cop must have just been a rookie or bored! Sounds like not much has changed except the cops have gotten worse!
The. That is bogus no one should be able to be trespassed off PUBLIC places if it is PUBLIC. Burlington cops can be jerks. BURLINGTON COPS need to pay attention to crimes likes, robberies, rape, domestic violence, people speeding. They complained every time I called them for something. Burlington firefighters are nice. Police, firefighters, sheriff’s, and people are a lot more nice to each other in Maine than Vermont, most of the women dispatcher’s at Burlington police/fire are snobby when you use to talk to them before the 911 operators the 911 operators are very friendly at least.. People here say hello to each other as they pass by each other and are willing to help others unlike in Vermont only family and friends helped me. Everyone there thinks your a bad person if they don’t know you. Maine than s a lot better more to do in summer, don’t have to worry about beaches closing here due to contamination, more beaches, more to do year round here. Burlington has stopped a lot of things like the chew chew festival and other events making it boring and especially with no downtown mall. Glad I moved to Maine. They have more parades here YEAR round too.
They wont be happy till City Hall Park and the downtown area is full of criminal activities and law abiding citizens are driven out. This win is ridiculous!
Let’s go one further with the ordinance in regards to City Hall Park. Everyone assumes the City “owns” the park…they don’t. The parkland was dedicated as a “public commons” in 1820, thus being uniquely owned by “the people” directly NOT the city. People cannot be trespassed from there.
The City has been warned, by courts, several times now about trespassing from the public space. Maybe Attorney Blackwood will get the message this time. Somehow, I doubt it.
Yet more of Vermont’s endless PC bullshit of “taking the humane and productive approach to supporting its most low-income residents.” What about the people like me who do not break the law, who pay disproportionately high tax es because so many people are riding the gravy train? Burlington is on its way down. And I am on my way out, moving back to my small hometown in another state where behavior like Ploof’s is prosecuted not rewarded with a windfall.
I remember the time I got arrested for no reason other than I was too near the fountain and spent the night in the holding cell two different times. I say bpd has no right to pull rank on someone’s constitutional rights.. DONT TREAD ON THEE B.P.D
I say the B.P.D Has NO RIGHT to tread on ANYONE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS PERIOD! I was treated as an outcast and had my name tarnished multiple times in the city I was born and raised in.. Thanks a bunch city of Burlington. And to those that jump to conclusion… only GOD can judge. BY THE WAY, PUT YOURSELVES IN MY SHOES! Look how many OUTDOOR drinking areas there are between city hall and the surrounding area. Plz be more respectful when you put someone else’s name in your mouth SAYSME. Thanks
-Jason Ploof