Our tenacity paid off! More than 18 months, 3 lawsuits and 2 protests later, the City of Carson has repealed its presence restrictions.
In a vote of 3 to 0, the City Council decided to rid the City of Carson of its presence restrictions which both violated state law and denied the civil rights of more than 100,000 individuals.
This important vote was taken despite a proclamation in 2014 by a member of the City Council to “declare war” upon registered citizens.
This important vote was taken because we did not give up. Instead, we showed up, we stood up and we spoke up – in the courts and in the streets of Carson.
First, we challenged the city’s ordinance in federal court alleging that the ordinance violated the U.S. Constitution and was preempted by state law. In good faith, we later entered into a Settlement Agreement with the City that specified the City would revise its restrictions and we would dismiss the lawsuit. We dismissed the lawsuit, however, the City reneged and refused to revise its restrictions.
The City Council attempted to justify its position by claiming that the City Manager lacked authority to bind the City despite a provision in the agreement stating that he had such authority. The City Council subsequently fired the City Manager.
Members of the City Council replied to the second lawsuit in state court as well as in the court of public opinion. That is, they postured before city residents during Council meetings by speaking out loudly and angrily about the lawsuit as well as about appellate court decisions which determined that similar laws adopted by other local governments were preempted. During those meetings, Council members acknowledged they were aware of the courts’ decisions and proclaimed they would not abide by them because they disagreed.
We responded to the Council’s angry proclamations by inviting members of that Council to a picnic in a city park. We believed that such an event had the potential to close the gap between the parties. Because the Council members refused our invitation, we organized and conducted a peaceful protest in the form of a march from City Hall to the park where a picnic was held – in the park for family members and 300 feet away from the park for registered citizens who could not lawfully enter. We conducted a second peaceful protest on another day prior to a City Council meeting.
Third, we filed a second lawsuit in federal court after a new and brave registrant agreed to serve as a plaintiff in that lawsuit. The original federal allegations — the City’s presence restrictions violated the U.S. Constitution and were preempted by state law – were repeated.
The Carson City Council made the right decision this week when it significantly revised its presence restrictions so as to comply with state law and the Carson City Council is to be commended for that decision.
Let us take this time to savor our victory in the battle to protect the Constitution by restoring an important civil right, that is, that registered citizens be allowed to lawfully visit public and private places. For we shall soon enough be required to fight another battle in Carson and in other cities, that is, to restore the right of registered citizens to lawfully reside in the city or county of their choice.
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I wish more people would stand up and be counted like you all in California, I’m one of only 2 registered people in my State willing to Address Our state government, out of about 20 thousand.
Congratulations and well done!!! One step at a time, one day at a time, we ARE making progress. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. It is very much appreciated by all. On to the next fight….
Thanks for bulldogging this for so long, Janice! When we look at our fight as a marathon, not a sprint, it is easier to be positive about the future. We are all in this together!
Congratulations CARSOL and the members, keep the fight up.
Well done. One victory at a time. The race isn’t always won by the swiftest or fastest, but rather by those who keep running. I truly have absolutely no idea where California would be without you. Thank you again
Great work!
Continue to do great works! Hopefully, this will catch onto the federal level so all other states can follow suit. Then it will be like a domino effect.
Congratulations on the victory in Carson! I notice there are a lot of comments regarding how everyone is happy about the case and I am glad however it would also be nice to see a few more of these people at the meetings, protests, or court hearings. There are many registered sex offenders in California, their family, and friends who can come out to support RSOL in so many ways but refuse to do so for one reason or another. Please consider standing upfront with Janice and the team, more the better!
Congratulations again! Janice and Team will go down in History, that is for sure. I am proud the part of this great group.
Congratulations again and again to Janice & Co. for fighting the fight in the face of extreme prejudice and hatred sponsored by a standing body of government – and finding a way for justice to prevail.
We don’t need to declare a war on anyone. Janice declared a war on ignorance and bigotry and Carson found themselves in the cross-hairs by their own words and actions.
The abstaining members should appropriately be sued for conspiring to violate the civil rights of registrants and their families. I don’t know if Carson would be on the hook for the damages or if they would fall directly to those individuals that carried on this war of hatred.
Either way, millions should be ponied up to help restore the dignity of those affected by this hateful policy.
Janice do you think they actually read the US Constitution you gave them at their City Council meeting? Whatever the last straw was that got them to move no doubt it was you, your team and the many prayers up that made a combined difference. Thank you Janice for your leadership and also to all those out there that showed up, stood up and/or spoke up!
Don’t forget to send a letter in this regard specifically to KFI’s AM 640 John & Ken.
They need to stick to the illegal immigration issue, since they seem to be so of base with the RC issue.
Janice and Co.,
I’ve been a registered citizen residing in the city of Carson as of Jan. 2015. As of today, what are the current residency and presence restrictions for the city of Carson and where can I find these ordinances? Where can I find the up-to-date California statutes regarding residency and presence restrictions? Thank you and your team for EVERYTHING that you do!