City Says: Dial 911 for Help, Face Eviction

A civil liberties group has filed a lawsuit against the city of Norristown (Penn.), claiming that a three-strikes law discourages apartment dwellers from dialing 911 for help and puts domestic violence victims in even more jeopardy than usual. The city enacted the law intending to improve living conditions within the city’s rental community, by forcing out tenants who generated chronic responses for the police. But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says in a lawsuit that it unfairly targets those who are victims of crime, and who cannot control the people who create crime in their apartments. The city law (pdf) sets up a procedure for the police chief to track his department’s responses to rental property occupants for reports “disorderly behavior.” The incidents can be reported by anyone, and include a wide range of crimes and behaviors. The city imposes fines on the property owner, but a fine is withheld if the offending if the owner has initiated eviction proceedings. In its lawsuit on behalf of Lakisha Briggs, who suffered visits by an ex-boyfriend and who was reluctant to dial 911 for help because of the city law. Briggs was eventually hospitalized as the result of an assault by the man. The ACLU is asking the court to invalidate the law on constitutional grounds. The city has responded that he law is constitutional and is Many cities have similar laws to discourage on-going police responses to the same location. The laws are divided into two types: those that focus on only noise complaints or rowdy behavior, and those that include more serious criminal behavior that results in a specific victim. Download (pdf) the ACLU’s lawsuit for more details, and read more about Ms. Briggs here. [For a more academic view, review a study by a Harvard University professor of so-called “nuisance laws.” The study / city comparison]