Our courts were never intended to serve as rubber stamps for landlords seeking to evict their tenants, but rather to see that justice be done before someone is evicted from their home.
COVID-19 has left many families across Idaho out of work, wondering how they will pay the bills and make rent as 2020 wears on. Though the State halted most evictions during the month of April, evictions have surged back to above normal since this beginning of May.
Since Idaho adopted its Constitution in 1889, tenants have had the constitutional right to a trial by the jury of their peers before their landlord, with the help of an armed sheriff, may throw them out of their home. In this case, we co-counseled with Idaho Legal Aid Services to vindicate that consitutional right. The lawsuit against the State of Idaho asks the court to confirm the right to jury trial in evictions.
We won the lawsuit because the judge ruled that tenants have a right to a jury trial in eviction cases. The judge ruled it is unconstitutional for Idaho to have a law that says that tenants cannot get a jury trial in some evictions.
Facing eviction in Idaho? Contact the Idaho Legal Aid Services Housing Hotline at 208-746-7541
