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Homeless Class Action Certified Against NYPD

Judge Shira Scheindlin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has certified a class of homeless people to proceed with a class action against the New York City Police Department (NYPD). The plaintiff sued the NYPD police commissioner after being arrested in 1993 under a loitering law previously declared unconstitutional. In 1992, the law was found by a federal court to be unconstitutional and the city was ordered to stop enforcing it. However, the plaintiff claimed that arrests were made and summonses still being issued after the city took steps to cease enforcing the law.

The statute at issue defines the offense of loitering as when a person “remains or wanders about in a public place for the purpose of begging.” The plaintiff sought to represent all homeless people who have been arrested under the loitering law since October 1992, which the judge noted could be in the thousands. Despite allegations of drug use and questionable character, the judge found that poor moral character doesn’t disqualify a person from serving as a class action representative, since the class action vehicle was designed to protect those least able to pursue their own case.

Source:

http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/pl/mas/20070816/20070816_beggars.html