Trabajadores
Por El Progreso Y Bienestar Social, National Day Laborer
Organizing
Network, Casa Freehold, United Day Laborers of Freehold
December
2003 has been resolved.
This
agreement resolves
a lawsuit brought three years ago by day laborers working and living in
Freehold, who complained that they were denied the right to solicit
employment
in public places in Freehold and were subjected to discriminatory law
enforcement and housing code enforcement.
Former NJ
Supreme Court
Justice Daniel O’Hern was appointed by the Hon. Anne E. Thompson,
United States
District Judge to facilitate an agreement between the parties. Alan Levine of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense
and Education Fund was lead consul representing the plaintiffs along
with attorneys
Renee Steinhagen of NJ Appleseed and Julio Gomez of Latham &
Watkins. The Borough secured outside legal
representation.
The Agreement is wide reaching, covering areas
such as
solicitation of employment, property maintenance code enforcement, and
law
enforcement in the Borough of Freehold.
The Agreement will be monitored for a period of two years by a
court
appointed monitor with the court retaining jurisdiction for the
duration of the
agreement.
According to the terms of the agreement, the
Borough will
not interfere with the lawful use of public property including the pick
up and
discharge of day laborers. The Borough
will not unlawfully hinder the exercise of free speech including the
solicitation of employment by day laborers.
Also, no residential code enforcement inspection shall take
place
without the resident being advised of his/her rights and informed
consent given
by the resident. A police officer will
not accompany code officer on the inspection.
The Borough will provide plaintiff’s attorneys with civilian
complaints
resulting from code inspections. A
compliance officer will provide plaintiff’s attorneys through the court
appointed monitor Dennis Bliss, former director of Municipal Court
Services for
the Administrative Office of the Courts of New Jersey, with reports of
compliance
to this agreement. Furthermore, the
Borough will install video recorders in its patrol cars.
The Borough will retain all data pertaining
to racial profiling and with interference with the lawful use of public
property. It will also retain records on
the use of dogs and non-vehicular video recording. The
plaintiff’s attorneys have the right to
inspect and copy any documents relevant to compliance with this
agreement.
The Borough agrees to reimburse the fines of
those
Latinos convicted of Loitering and/or Officer Discretion (Borough
Ordinances
9.08.010 and 9.08.060) dating back to January 1, 2002. The
Borough also agrees to reimburse fines
for those convicted in Housing Code Inspections, other than violations
for
overcrowding, where no opportunity was given to correct the code
violation. Also, the Borough will
reimburse fines for convictions made on the basis of anonymous
complaints not
founded on articulable suspicion. The
Borough is establishing a Latino Persons Fund of $33,000 for fine
reimbursements.
The Borough will pay the plaintiff’s attorneys
fees of
$245,000 in addition to its own attorney’s legal fees.
We now look forward to a much improved
relationship
between the Borough of Freehold and its Latino residents” said Pablo
Lopez, a Freehold
day laborer.
“It has been the plaintiff’s desire from the
very
beginning to find a place for the Day Laborers to gather for the
purpose of
seeking employment – whether on Throckmorton St. or some other location
– and
we hope the community gets behind this effort”, he continued, “This has
been a
long and difficult process, but we are very pleased with the outcome. We are saddened that this lawsuit was
necessary. We now look forward to a much
improved relationship with the Borough of Freehold.”
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