The Uses and Abuses of Zoning and Building Codes in Philadelphia

Let me just add, regarding this story, that the real sinister thing here isn't that the police captain thinks it's okay to "drum up charges" against community activists, because as bad as unlawful arrest and detention for 12 hours is, we still have habeas corpus for citizens (at least) in this country and, as Will Bunch says, the city has been and will be again successfully sued for money damages for such behavior.

No, the really insidious thing is this:

The house was examined by officials from several government agencies and then shuttered by the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections.

"This leaves me homeless, without access to things I need. My whole life is disrupted," [owner Daniel] Moffat said yesterday.

Mr. Moffat's problem is worse than being locked up: He's been deprived of his home, and that's a much bigger problem than unlawful arrest, because it goes through a completely different, civil track. You don't have a right to be free of scrutiny by the Department of Licenses and Inspections, which can enter any business and most houses at any time without a warrant, and bring the police along with them. In practice, it works the other way around: The police decide they want in your building, so they go in with an L&I guy in tow. If they can't get the goods on you criminally - because, you know, you're innocent - L&I can always find something to shut you down and cost you thousands of dollars, at best. At worst, they can get your building condemned.

The good news is that the media has now noticed this story, and the blog world consequently has become aware of it. That puts a lot of leverage in the hands of Mr. Moffat and his friends. The bad news is that every day the police and city government abuse their power this way, and it doesn't make the papers.

Comments

[Mold]

I beg to differ. You may be quite sure that a local is running illegal but not have enough proof to go to trial. Innocent, maybe not. You then use the administrative law to shut them down.

We knew a renter was pimping out her daughters. Couldn't prove it because the girls were underage and refused to testify. Brought in admin law and broke her prostitution ring. She has a 15-25, the girls are placed in care and the johns are all in sex offender status.

Don't think I'd waste such a uselful device on protestors. First Amendment.

[Nan]

Moffat did kind of screw up by not stepping forward immediately as the owner of the property. With no one claiming ownership and the building itself apparently looking rather rough, the police would have a rational basis to believe the inhabitants were squatters.

On the other hand, it also sounds like the police were deliberately harassing Moffat et al solely for their activism. That's scary.

I am surprised L&I would work that closely with the PD in Philadelphia. I've observed the opposite in other urban areas -- there will be problem buildings, e.g., an obviously abandoned structure being used as a crack house, and it will take literally years to get a condemnation order issued so the building can be demolished.