A lawsuit that claims the City of Denver violated the constitutional rights of its homeless residents took a big step forward on Thursday.

A federal judge granted class-action status to the suit, which was filed last year. That means the lawsuit, which originally had nine plaintiffs, will be expanded to cover every homeless person in Denver, said attorney Jason Flores-Williams. There are more than 5,000 homeless people in the metro area, and more than 1,000 have been affected by the sweeps, Flores-Williams said.

“These people are going to have their day in court,” Flores-Williams said.

The lawsuit alleges that city crews violated the Fourth and 14th Amendments – protection against unreasonable searches and seizures and right of due process – of the U.S. Constitution when they cleared homeless camps multiple times over the last year or more.

To read the full story, go to http://www.cpr.org/news.