You may know that in some wealthy communities the cops do chores for the elasticize .. like making intimidating calls to bloggers like me!
Did you also know it’s against the law in many communities to call the police for help?
Norristown, Pennsylvania, was one of those communities. It had a “nuisance” ordinance on its books, typical of many such local ordinances around the country, that enabled the town to force landlords to evict tenants if police were repeatedly called to the unit. Presumably the purpose of such ordinance is to save money.
Lakisha Briggs was a renter in Norristown. She was stalked and repeatedly attacked by an abusive ex-boyfriend. On one occasion, he hit her with a brick. Briggs had quit calling the police because the town had threatened her with eviction. But she couldn’t keep her neighbors from calling the cops when the ex-boyfriend stabbed her and she had to be airlifted to a hospital. For that call, the town said “strike three,” and tried to evict her.
Briggs went to the ACLU. The Norristown ordinance was unconstitutional because it penalized citizens for exercising their right to petition government, which includes calling the police for emergency assistance. The town’s actions against Briggs also violated the federal Violence Against Women Act and other statutes, and constituted unlawful discrimination against Briggs based on her gender.
The Norristown town fathers were unrepentant. They responded to the initial complaint by agreeing to repeal the ordinance — but then promptly re-enacted it. The ACLU took them to court, the ordinance was struck down, and Norristown had to pay Briggs and her lawyers $495,000 for compensation and attorney fees.