City of Des Moines v. Webster

In Des Moines, Iowa, homeless people built a campsite under a bridge. The campsite was constructed during warm-weather months. The City of Des Moines (the city) (plaintiff) received numerous complaints about the campsite. Upon inspection, the city found a lack of suitable restroom and cooking facilities, unsanitary conditions, and heating methods that were unsafe, posing a fire hazard. The city posted a notice of violation, instructing the homeless people to vacate the area or be removed by force or arrested. The occupants of the campsite appealed, and an administrative hearing was held, conducted by hearing officer Cassandra Webster (defendant). At the hearing, counsel for the homeless noted that the local homeless shelter was over capacity that January during the cold weather. One of the occupants of the campsite testified that the homeless shelter was over capacity and that going to the shelter would mean leaving his belongings because the shelter did not offer space for storage. The occupants asserted a necessity defense, arguing that the cold winter weather presented an imminent harm upon forcible removal. The temperature was below freezing, which was common for winter in Iowa. Also, the homeless shelter was over capacity, but the occupants of the campsite would have been allowed to stay at the shelter if they wanted. The city presented evidence of the risk of fire and a similar encampment that burned because of unsafe heating practices. Webster permitted the necessity defense, relying on cases in which the defense was raised in the criminal context, and she ruled in favor of the occupants of the campsites. Webster determined that the shortage of beds at the homeless shelter and the winter cold caused the necessity for the occupants to keep living under the bridge. A district court upheld Webster’s decision, and the city appealed, asserting that allowing the necessity defense was error.