Ruling Kills Oakland Law Allowing Seizure of Cars Used to Pick Up Prostitutes or Drugs

[The Straight Story]

Supreme Court Ruling Kills Oakland Law Allowing Seizure of Cars Used to Pick Up Prostitutes or Drugs
By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor (07-27-07)

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday against California enacting ordinances allowing the seizure and forfeiture of vehicles used in picking up prostitutes or buying drugs, thus effectively ending the City of Oakland’s 10-year experiment in the practice.

In a 4-3 vote in O’Connell v City of Stockton, the court ruled on the narrow grounds that the city could not enact enforcement laws in areas that had already been addressed by the state. “The illicit commercial activities—prostitution and trafficking in controlled substances—that are the focus of the city’s vehicle forfeiture ordinance,” the court’s ruling read, “are matters of statewide concern that our Legislature has comprehensively addressed through various provisions of this state’s Penal and Vehicle Codes, leaving no room for further regulation at the local level.”

The ruling does not prevent police from towing automobiles involved in picking up prostitutes or drugs but only the forfeiture. Automobile towings are covered under the state’s Vehicle Code.

Although the court asked attorneys involved in the case to submit briefs on whether the seizures themselves violated state or federal constitutional due process guarantees, the ruling noted that “because we conclude here that state law preempts the provisions of the Stockton Municipal Code pertaining to seizure and forfeiture of nuisance vehicles, thus invalidating those provisions and rendering them unenforceable, we need not address issues.”

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=07-27-07&storyID=27638