Disabled camper sues Curry County

Lawsuit filed on violations of civil rights and disability law

Curry County and several of its employees could be heading to court after attorneys representing the firms of LeDuc Montgomery LLC and Albies and Stark LLC filed a federal lawsuit regarding civil rights and disability laws. County officials attempted to remove an unhoused camper through unconventional means.

The plaintiff, John Malaer, is a 65-year-old local advocate for disabled and unhoused communities who was camping in the lot near Shopping Center Ave. and Zimmerman Lane. A paraplegic with significant medical challenges, Malaer chose this location because it was near Brookings CORE Response, a homeless services organization many rely on, and it allowed him to charge his electric wheelchair.

The Curry County Sheriff’s and Code Enforcement offices issued a trespassing notice for the public space. Dated July 11th, 2022, the notice stated that trespassing was prohibited in this area, and all persons and property must be removed by July 13th, 2022. This is in violation of an Oregon Revised Statute against unlawful camp removal policies.

According to ORS 195.505, any notice must be given 72-hours prior to any removal of homeless individuals from a camping site. This statute also provides that any personal property at the camping site left unclaimed must be delivered to an organization in the same community as the camping site, for easy retrieval. That organization and its location must be listed on the trespassing notice, which the County failed to do in this instance.

St. Timothy’s Reverand Cora Rose was made aware of the situation and pointed out to county officials that their trespass notice was not in compliance and therefore not valid. Code Enforcement was notified and rescinded the notice. The plaintiff and their representation provided video evidence of officers acknowledging the notice was inactionable.

According to the plaintiff’s council, Rose was given a reassurance that no enforcement would take place until discussions were held with the County over legally compliant language.

Unfortunately, the County would not uphold this assurance. According to Malaer’s attorneys, on July 17th, 2022, the county proceeded to lease that property to one Dr. Ue Ching Ow for a full nominal fee of $1, a suspicious proposition. We attempted to make contact with Dr. Ow, an anesthesiologist from Northern California who already leased the adjacent property, but with no luck. It seems that little to no development has occurred on the property since the five-year lease was signed.

Under Oregon state law, leasing practices state the lessee and county must demonstrate or provide a general public benefit. The plaintiffs argue that there is not a general public benefit in this situation, and that this lease was signed primarily, if not entirely, to turn campers into trespassers. The discussion in the County Commissioners meeting on July 6th, 2022, on this specific lease is telling. There is no discussion over what the land will be used for, or the business prospects of the lot. The entire conversation is framed around the lease as a solution to the ‘problem’ of the unhoused camping there.

Legal observers had been accompanying Malaer at the camp, when officers advised them that the property was now private. Malaer and the legal observers disputed this and despite further reassurance that officers would not act to remove the campers until a ranking officer could come explain, the deputies returned after the legal observers had left and arrested Malaer on second-degree trespassing at around 9:30 P.M. that evening.

The plaintiffs hold that this was a discriminatory act conducted by the County, who used unlawful citations and bad faith leasing practices to remove disabled unhoused from a public lot. According to attorney Alicia LeDuc Montgomery, this is about much more than a single instance of discrimination.

“This lawsuit is not just about seeking justice for Mr. Malaer; it’s about holding Curry County accountable for its systemic disregard for the rights of disabled and unhoused individuals. The actions taken by the County were not only illegal but also morally reprehensible,” said Montgomery.

This is not the first instance of a case involving the rights of the unhoused that has hit Curry County. In January 2022, the City of Brookings was sued after they attempted to limit the amount of meal services St. Timothy’s Episcopal could provide. With the recent Supreme Court decision in Johnson vs Grants Pass, we could continue to see local governments take emboldened stances against their unhoused populations.