The city has agreed to sit down with an attorney representing members of a downtown homeless encampment effort two years ago to try to settle the case.
Tucson City Attorney Mike Rankin confirmed a motion by U.S. District Judge David Bury that gives the city and plaintiffs 90 days to settle or go back to court.
“We are working on scheduling a mediation with the plaintiffs to see if we can resolve those issues,” Rankin said of the 2014 protest effort known as the Safe Park movement.
The mediation could resolve the case without trial, said Carl Sammartino, the attorney representing several Safe Park protesters. He declined to comment further.
The Safe Park protest featured encampments that stretched across a large chunk of downtown. It grew out of the Occupy movement in 2013.
Tensions between city officials and the campers escalated when the city said demonstrators couldn’t keep more than a bedroll, a backpack and a beverage with them during the protest.
Organizers sued, and the court issued a preliminary injunction in December 2014 preventing the city from taking belongings or interfering with the free-speech rights of the protesters.
The injunction remains in effect, but the city appealed, saying it needs the authority to regulate the stuff that accumulates at a homeless encampment.
The camps, which included tents, bedrolls and “dream pods” —plywood boxes that could be used for sleeping and storage —were eventually dismantled by the city.
