老澳门开奖结果

LANCASTER, Calif. 鈥� In the City of Lancaster, people who are homeless are treated as criminals and subjected to citations that carry fines far beyond their means to pay. They can appeal, but in a Kafka-like situation, the city demands that a fine be fully paid before an appeal can be heard.

Under Lancaster鈥檚 administrative citation system, justice is only for those who can afford it.

Today, the 老澳门开奖结果 Foundation of Southern California (老澳门开奖结果 SoCal) and the University of California-Irvine Consumer Law Clinic filed a lawsuit against the City of Lancaster and the Los Angeles County Sheriff鈥檚 Department (LASD) for maintaining 鈥渁n administrative citation system that is designed and enforced to punish poverty, in violation of the California Constitution.鈥�

For the supposed offense of sleeping outdoors in a vacant lot or even sitting outside 鈥渨ithout a reason,鈥� people in Lancaster who are unhoused have been subjected to penalties of $500 for the first citation and $1,000 for the second 鈥� all without the possibility of appeal without full payment. And if a citation penalty is not paid within 30 days, the city refers it to a private collections agency that imposes an additional $150.

It鈥檚 a system that criminalizes poverty in violation of the 鈥渆qual protection of the laws鈥� guaranteed by the California Constitution.

鈥淚t makes no sense to punish poverty with exorbitant, unpayable fines and fees,鈥� said Tiffany Bailey, an attorney with 老澳门开奖结果 SoCal. 鈥淚f the city really cared about public safety solutions, it would put the resources wasted on tickets and collections toward helping people meet their needs.鈥�

Lancaster鈥檚 law enforcement is rooted not only in discrimination on the basis of poverty 鈥� about a quarter of infraction citations are issued to people who are homeless 鈥� but also on race. The sheriff鈥檚 department, which was placed under federal consent decree in 2015 for discriminatory policing practices, issues nearly half its infraction citations in Lancaster to Black people.

The plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court in Los Angeles, is Leroy Butts, a 68-year-old Black man who was unhoused at the time of an incident in 2019 in a Lancaster park. He was legally passing out 鈥淜now Your Rights鈥� pamphlets when two LASD deputies approached a group of people who were homeless. Butts told members of the group of their rights to be in the park, and in a clear act of retaliation the deputies issued him a $500 administrative citation.

The lawsuit says, 鈥淎s Mr. Butts experienced, the city鈥檚 administrative citation scheme violates the due process and equal protection guarantees of the California Constitution and exposes Lancaster residents like him to unchecked abuse, harassment, and retaliation by the city鈥檚 police force, LASD.鈥� And because Butts could not afford to pay the $500, he had no possibility of appeal.

鈥淣ot only can Mr. Butts not appeal, but because he lacks the means to pay the citation his debt will be referred to a private collection agency that imposes an additional $150 fee, 鈥渟aid Stacey Tutt, director of the UC Irvine Consumer Law Clinic.鈥� The city has also threatened to block his driver鈥檚 license renewal and file a claim against his income tax return.鈥�

The lawsuit states that Lancaster鈥檚 administrative citation system is, in addition to being unconstitutional, an unlawful backlash against Proposition 47 that was approved by California voters in 2014. Known as the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, the proposition reclassified six low-level felonies, including some dealing with property violations, as misdemeanors to reduce spending on incarceration.

In a reactionary move (Lancaster鈥檚 mayor said the LASD was 鈥渉elpless under Proposition 47鈥�), the city enacted its 鈥淎dministrative Penalties for State Offenses鈥� ordinance to increase punitive measures outside the criminal court system.

With the ordinance on the books, the city and LASD engaged 鈥渋n an illegal pattern and practice of imposing invalid administrative penalties,鈥� the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit asks the court to order:

• Lancaster and the LASD to cease issuing citations under the city鈥檚 administrative citation program
• Lancaster to stop the collection of debts imposed by the citation system
• Compensatory and punitive damages awarded to Butts

Read the lawsuit here: f