A federal judge ruled Friday afternoon that the city of Burlington can take down a homeless encampment.
Judge Geoffrey Crawford had previously granted a temporary restraining order to block the city from taking down an encampment while he made a ruling on a motion from the Vermont Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for a temporary injunction. Judge Crawford denied the ACLU's motion Friday.
The ACLU brought the lawsuit against the city last week, alleging that Burlington is violating constitutional rights when it disbands homeless encampments. The suit was filed after the Burlington took down a camp in the city's South End, and was planning to remove another camp on North Avenue.
The ruling does not end the case, but means that Burlington can take down the North Avenue encampment during the course of the trial.
In court papers, Judge Crawford wrote that the plaintiffs did not sufficiently meet all the criteria for the court to grant a preliminary injunction.
