A sunny cold November day in Selma Park with grownups sans children, just sitting around enjoying the goddamned park like God and the Recreation and Parks Commission intended them to do.Please, friends, forgive the wonkish headline, and read on to understand why it’s so important. If you haven’t been following the tragic saga of Selma Park, catch up here in the archives. The TL;DR is that the HPOA illegally proclaimed adults in Selma Park without children in tow to be in violation of California Penal Code 653b(a) and then proceeded arrest a bunch of people on these trumped-up charges. Every last one of the people arrested at that park for that crime whose cases were sent to the city attorney for prosecution had their prosecutions rejected. While we can’t (at the moment) prove that all 46 people arrested for violating that law at that park since 2008 were arrested by the Andrews International BID Patrol under the auspices of the Hollywood Property Owners Alliance, we can, as of now, prove something else that’s quite suggestive indeed. Right here, you can download a spreadsheet containing all PC653b(a) cases brought to the City Attorney’s office in the entire city of Los Angeles for as far back as electronic records are searchable. There’s one in there dated 2004, so perhaps that’s how far back they go. Continue reading Since 2004, More than 19% of all Violations of Penal Code 653b(a) Brought to the City Attorney for Prosecution from the Entire Freaking City of Los Angeles Originated at Selma Park→
Man without children enjoying Selma Park freely, as befits a free citizenry, on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon in OctoberWe have today a list of all cases referred to the City Attorney for prosecution for arrests in Selma Park for violating 653b(a) PC which, as you may recall, is the statute referenced on the recently removed and completely phony signs forbidding adults without children in the park. The list is an excel spreadsheet which we’ve edited from the original spreadsheet obtained today by Mike. That document lists everyone arrested in the park for any reason, and if you want it, you can get it from the city attorney’s office, or even just drop us an email. On July 1, 2008, Jesse Gutierrez became the first human being in history to be (falsely) arrested at Selma Park for violating 653b(a) PC and having his case referred to the city attorney for prosecution, subsequently rejected for who knows what reason.
There are 46 people on the list, which means that at least that many were arrested, possibly more. We can’t tell yet who arrested all of these people, but since the arrests started in July 2008 (the list we obtained began in 2002) we’re guessing it’s the BID Patrol rather than the LAPD who’s responsible. Some of them we can be sure were arrested by the BID Patrol because we have their pictures. In any case, note the fact that every single one of the 46 case numbers begins with the letter “R.” The ever helpful Mike Dundas, who’s the CPRA contact over there, tells us that that means the case was rejected for prosecution. Unfortunately records which explain why cases were rejected are exempt from production. Oh well. Continue reading At Least 46 People Arrested for Being in Selma Park Without Children Since July 1, 2008, All 46 Cases Rejected for Prosecution by LA City Attorney→
