Depriving someone of their truck while serving as a home constitutes an excessive fine that is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled.
The case is City of Seattle v. Long, judicial file 98824-2; it was decided on August 12.
In 2016, Steven Gregory Long, at the time a 56-year-old member of the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation, parked his truck for more than 72 hours on Seattle-owned land, a violation of the Seattle Municipal Code. . Long worked as a general trader and stored work tools along with personal effects in his vehicle and lived in the truck.
The rape occurred after Long was driving to a date when the truck began to screech, according to the court.
On July 5, 2016, it was parked in a gravel lot owned by the city of Seattle and the truck remained there for three months. On October 5, 2016, the police informed Long that he was violating the Seattle ordinance by parking in one spot for more than 72 hours. Long said he told police he lived in the truck.
Later that day, a parking officer posted a 72-hour notice on the truck, noting that it would be impounded if it did not move at least one city block. Long did not move the truck, and when he was at work on October 12, a company hired by the city towed his truck. Without it, Long had to sleep on the ground before seeking shelter nearby to escape the wind and rain.
Long had to live outdoors for the next three weeks, deprived of his tools, sleeping bag and most of his belongings, which had been in the truck.
Long contested the ticket, but after a time agreed to a payment plan to pay the city for the costs of the seizure. He argued before the Washington Supreme Court that the seizure violated Washington’s property law and the excessive fines clause of the United States Constitution.
The court ruled unconstitutionally excessive for Seattle to impound a homeless man’s truck and force him to reimburse the city for nearly $ 550 in towing and storage costs. He also argued that the vehicles people live in are homes and cannot be sold at public auction to pay off their debts.
“It is difficult to conceive how Long could save money for an apartment and come out of homelessness while paying the fine and taking care of the expenses of daily living,” Judge Barbara Madsen wrote to the court.
“It’s a big step forward,” attorney Jim Lobsenz, who represented Long, told reporters. “The ruling says that the financial resources of poor people must be taken into account before imposing these fines and costs.”
If cities or towing companies cannot sell vehicles that serve as homes at auction, it makes little financial sense to impound the vehicles, he said. “What are they going to do with it? We will not have towing companies that profit from the misery of people who cannot pay ”.
“Today’s decision is a victory for all Washingtonians,” added Bill Maurer, managing attorney for the Institute of Justice (IJ) Washington office, who wrote a friend of the court brief on the case.
“The Washington Supreme Court decision recognizes that a $ 500 fine may not be excessive for a billionaire, but for someone who is so poor that he needs to live in his vehicle, it is unconstitutionally ruinous,” Maurer said in a statement.
IJ’s brief was joined by the Fines and Fees Justice Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Oregon Law Center, Equal Justice Under Law, the Policy Advocacy Clinic and the MacArthur Justice Center.
“The Washington Supreme Court decision should act as a roadmap for each court considering how to implement the Excess Fines Clause in the states,” Maurer said. “IJ and its allies will continue to pressure state and federal courts across the country to stop the imposition of excessive fines, especially those imposed on the most vulnerable among us.”
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement that the court’s decision will have “far-reaching implications for how mayors and city councils in all Washington cities respond to people living in their vehicles in a public property ».
Associated Press contributed to this report.
