Advocating for an Emergency Moratorium on Poverty Tows in California

| By BayLegal
Categories: Advocacy, Homepage, News
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Car being towed
Yesterday Bay Area Legal Aid joined 22 partner organizations in a coalition that has worked to stop “poverty tows” at the local and state level. We wrote to Governor Newsom asking that he issue an Executive Order placing an immediate moratorium on all vehicle tows, other than those necessary for public safety or criminal enforcement, …

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Racial Injustice and Our Work

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
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Through our partnerships, individual legal representation, impact litigation, and policy advocacy, we work to break down the barriers that prevent members of our communities from accessing basic necessities of life—healthcare, housing, food, employment—in order to increase their opportunities to lead safe and stable lives. Looming large over our work is the knowledge that many of …

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“Towed Into Debt”: Major New Report Shows How Towing Practices in CA Unfairly Harm Low-Income Drivers

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Today Bay Area Legal Aid announces the publication of “Towed Into Debt.” This major new report looks at the economic, legal, and policy aspects of municipal tow and impound practices across multiple cities in California, where approximately 1 million vehicles are towed by public agencies each year, and finds compelling evidence that: Towing is often …

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New Developments in the San Francisco Towing and Impound Case

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Neighborhood in San Francisco with the Bay Bridge int the background
As covered in previous BayLegal news items, BayLegal attorneys, our colleagues from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR), and pro bono co-counsel from the firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, have worked throughout 2018 to represent very low-income, homeless and precariously housed clients whose vehicles have been seized for unpaid parking tickets by …

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Civil Rights and Legal Aid Groups Demand End to City’s Unconstitutional Towing Practices

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Categories: Homepage, Litigation, News
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Neighborhood in San Francisco with the Bay Bridge int the background
For Immediate Release News from LCCR – SF Bay Area and Bay Area Legal Aid: Groups issue letter to City Attorney over violation of low-income people’s 4th Amendment rights Contact: Taylor Brady, TBrady@baylegal.org, (510) 250-5234; Matt Kovac, mkovac@lccr.com, (415) 510-9601 SAN FRANCISCO – One day after a federal court ordered the City of San Francisco to return an impounded …

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San Francisco Towing Practices Called into Question by New Federal Court Ruling

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For Immediate Release News from LCCR – SF Bay Area and Bay Area Legal Aid: City towed and impounded homeless man’s car for unpaid parking tickets; Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Bay Area Legal Aid and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP claim policy violates 4th Amendment guarantee against unreasonable seizure October 10, 2018 Contact: Taylor Brady, …

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