Appellate Law

A glimpse into a 24-hour curfew town in Arkansas

By S. COTUS

Just thought you guys would like to know what it looks like to live in a town with a twenty-four hour curfew, where the police are stopping all the poor people.  More story here.  Earlier coverage here.

    The key phrase in Valley's law-and-order PSA is curfew hours. In August, Valley and the Helena-West Helena City Council, citing out-of-control crime, unanimously created a 24-hour curfew zone in one of the city's poorest areas, a 10-block sector that has had its share of violence and drugs. Valley and the council later extended a form of the curfew citywide that allows for police to conduct searches of any passerby.

         Immediately after the curfew passed, the 30-officer Helena-West Helena Police Department flooded the area. Some of the officers brought from home assault rifles with night-vision scopes. With City Council approval -- but without probable cause -- police officers stopped anyone walking or driving through the area residents now call The Zone.

         Those stopped who were without warrants and carried nothing illegal were released and ordered home. Others weren't so lucky. In all, 32 people were arrested for charges ranging from outstanding warrants to possession of drugs or illegal firearms. Because officers did not have probable cause for the searches, it's doubtful any of the charges will stand up in court, says the American Civil Liberties Union.

Don't these poor people have any social skills? If these people in ?the Zone? were smart, they would simply have chosen not to be poor. Because they made bad choices they deserve less civil liberties. Four out of Five summer associates agree.

The story also explains that what started this mess was a stupid fight over a card game that didn?t result in any fatalities. 

A guy from Third Street lost a bet to a guy on Second Street. When the loser refused to pay, the Second Street man roughed up the one from Third Street. A group from Third Street then went to Second Street, where 10 bullets landed in the side of a house. No one was injured.

The mayor added:

"I've offered to give the ACLU lady a house on Second Street," he says. "That way, she can see if the Constitution will protect her there."

Strangely, when I informed my summer associate focus group of these statements, they felt they were somewhat awkward, and said that it was the mayor that lacked social skills, because he chose to be mayor of a town that lacked a single art gallery, despite having a JD.  (A Walmart doesn't count.)  However, they continued to believe that the poor people really needed a good searching every now and then.

Finally, some fun facts about the mayor, James Valley, behind this

• He is a lawyer, but ?The Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct recently suspended his law license for 30 days [he was also reprimanded here] following complaints of misconduct and shoddy legal work.?   He got his JD from the University of Arkansas, but the dean of the University of Arkansas'  Law School,  Cyndi Nance,  has yet to adopt or disavow his conduct.
• ?When the city's animal shelter fell into disrepair recently, stray dogs became a nuisance. Instead of working with volunteer groups on a solution..."We just opened the door and let 'em go," Valley says. "Ain't our problem now."  Story here.
• The City Attorney is his brother, Andre Valley who offers a tepid hilarious Terry Stop analysis.  Andre also seems not to be too keen on showing up at hearings for his clients.
• [t]he Helena-West Helena Police Department, ... gave himself the title "Colonel."
• ?A week after the curfew began, two armed men robbed a convenience store in The Zone.?
• Valley bumped up his salary to about $80,000 and gave himself use of a new city vehicle.
• He bought a gun and took up shooting shortly after being elected

Full post as published by Appellate Law and Practice on September 08, 2008 (boomark / email).