A state law against loitering has been ruled unconstitutional three times since it was passed in 1965, but the city has continued to enforce it, often using it as an excuse to round up the homeless in bus terminals and men whom cops perceive as gay and "cruising" for sex. In 2010 a judge held the city in contempt of court for failing to comply with orders to stop enforcing these loitering laws, and now, finally, a federal court has approved a class action settlement requiring the city to pay $15 million dollars to approximately 22,000 New Yorkers who were charged under unconstitutional “loitering” statutes between 1983 and this year.
"After courts struck down these loitering laws as unconstitutional, the NYPD should never have charged a single person under them," says Katherine Rosenfeld, a lead attorney in the class action lawsuit. "Instead, thousands of New Yorkers were arrested and forced to defend themselves in court, and even serve time in jail, for completely legal behavior. Many people arrested were doing nothing more than peacefully asking for change on a public sidewalk." Another attorney involved in the lawsuit adds, "Make no mistake, it happened because the victims were uniformly poor and disenfranchised."
Within three months, notice and a claim form will be sent to all 22,000 people in the class. [FYI, the unconstitutional loitering laws are N.Y. Penal Law § 240.35(1) (“loitering for the purpose of begging”), § 240.35(3) (loitering in a public place for the purpose of engaging in “sexual behavior of a deviate nature”), and § 240.35(7) (loitering in a transportation facility and “unable to give a satisfactory explanation of his presence”).] Anyone who thinks they're entitled to part of the settlement is encouraged to call 1-800-846-0798.
"This is an important settlement," said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman. "No one should be targeted because they live in a poor neighborhood, and this settlement speaks strongly to that." But Rachel Seligman, a city attorney with the NYC Law Department, says, "The Police Department is committed to maintaining its policy against enforcing unconstitutional statutes. Due to NYPD's ongoing efforts and training, very, very few charges have been made under the unconstitutional loitering statutes in the last few years, and NYPD is dedicated to continuing those efforts in the future.
"Unfortunately, as the statutes remained on the books for years after the courts declared them unconstitutional, all parts of the criminal justice system used them, including prosecutors, defense counsel and the court system, and people from all walks of life were affected. Under the circumstances, the city believed this settlement was in the best interests of all parties."
