(Editor’s note: This is an August 10 Westside Current story that may be of interest to Pacific Palisades residents, who would like homeless people living in vehicles to be moved from his/her street. It is reprinted with permission.)
The RV is parked next to Westminster school in Venice, and the couple who has lived there more than a year have refused to move. The RV has now been joined by a person who is living in a school bus.
A woman who lives in an RV outside the Westminster Elementary School and across from the Westminster Dog Park –is suing residents in the area for what she alleges is thuggery and harassment.
C. Finley is suing up to 20 unknown defendants for no less than $1 million per person.
The lawsuit names one resident and a business –then lists up to 20 unknown named defendants, which the lawsuit says will fill in when their “true identities” are learned.
The lawsuit alleges that the neighbors used force and or violence against the plaintiff and repeatedly harassed them. However, no specific actions were listed in the lawsuit. The lawsuit also alleges obstruction of justice by the defendant’s attempting to prevent Finley from what the lawsuit says is her federal constitutional right to “reside where she chooses.”
Residents who live near Finley’s RV say they have done none of the alleged things towards Finley, and say she and her partner have caused a lot of nuisance and sanitation issues. Multiple residents say they have documented numerous cases of loud music throughout the night– violent threats against them and their families as well as suspicious activity.
In late July, Finley also filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. That suit alleges that parking restrictions being imposed by L.A. violate the civil rights of people who live in recreational vehicles because they have no other place to live.
Stephen Yagman, a civil rights lawyer noted for high-profile cases involving law enforcement, filed both lawsuits. Yagman was disbarred in 2010 after being convicted of tax and bankruptcy fraud and money laundering, according to the LA Times. He was reinstated in May.
Both lawsuits claim that the actions of the defendants violate the RICO Act, the federal racketeering law, and represent government-sanctioned eugenics “to alter, by government edict — here a parking ordinance, a specific population that is disfavored by society and by government.”
The class-action suit is seeking $1 million in punitive damages against Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Council members and other city officials but does not ask for monetary compensation.
The civil suit, also filed in federal court, is requesting $1 million on the non -RICO violations and punitive damages as a percentage of the net worth of each defendant [resident], in a sum “sufficient to deter future misconduct.”
The civil suit is also calling for a jury trial.
Stephen Yagman, why are you wasting much needed tax dollars to file a frivolous lawsuit ? Some people have no moral compass( in my humble opinion)