NJP just cleared a major hurdle in Millerd v. City of Sedro-Woolley — our federal civil rights lawsuit over the City’s mass eviction of more than 40 households from the Skagit Motel.
The City had given long-term tenants less than 18 hours to leave their homes — under threat of arrest — with no social workers, no emergency housing funds, and no plan for where people would go. The result: displaced families left almost uniformly unhoused or stuck in inadequate temporary shelter.
The City asked the court to dismiss the case. The court largely denied that request. This matters enormously. In civil rights cases like this, the facts are rarely in dispute — the real battle is getting past the legal shields cities can rely on to avoid accountability. This ruling not only keeps the case alive, it gives NJP a roadmap for future litigation if and when cities trample the rights of unhoused and low-income residents.