9:25am October 27, 2014

“Landlords in Oakland, California, will now be required to evict sex workers from their properties if the city asks them to. Under an ordinance passed by the Oakland City Council Tuesday, city officials have authority to force suspected sex workers—along with anyone engaged in certain “nuisance” activities—from their homes, even if these individuals haven’t been convicted of any crimes. The ordinance also allows landlords to request that the city carry out evictions of these individuals. It passed the Council by unanimous vote.

As if all of this wasn’t crazy coercive enough, the new Oakland ordinance leaves determining who is a sex worker, drug dealer, or illegal bookie up to city officials’ and landlords’ discretion. An individual need not be convicted or even charged with prostitution to trigger eviction; the text of the ordinance merely mentions “engaging in” the activity. (The activity also needn’t take place on the property, only be “connected” to or “associated with” it.) “The bill does not describe what burden of proof the city needs to meet in order to ‘apprise’ a landlord that a tenant has ‘engaged’ in said illegal activity, Capps notes. “Nor does the bill stipulate how or whether this evidence (presuming some is required) is to be shared with the tenant.” Essentially, the city can now force anyone it deems undesirable out of town on the flimsiest of pretences. Cops can’t make a prostitution charge stick? Have the city evict her! Can’t meet the burden of proof that someone’s selling drugs? Have the city evict them! City officials say it’s no big deal because residents can contest the eviction in court. But if we look at the people most suspected of drug and sex-work related activity, it’s usually not wealthy, legally-savvy individuals who have the resources or werewithal to fight it.”

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