Constitutional scholars pan plan to seal zones
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
June 5, 2008
WASHINGTON — Constitutional scholars threw cold water on Mayor Adrian Fenty’s plan to quarantine violent neighborhoods, warning that the effort to establish sealed off zones may well be headed for court.
"It’s still a free country," said District Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University. "You can travel where you want and not have to explain yourself to police."
The Examiner reported Wednesday that Fenty and his police chief, Cathy Lanier, want cops to shut down violent neighborhoods and throw up roadblocks, checking identification for anyone coming or going. Anyone without "a legitimate reason" to be in the neighborhood will be ordered out or face arrest.
Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles said that measure has already been tested by federal courts.
He pointed especially to a 1995 case out of New York where a federal panel ruled against a retired policeman who was arrested at a neighborhood barricade.
But Bonnie I. Robin-Vergeer, a senior lawyer at the activist group Public Citizen, said the New York case only involved the question of whether a police checkpoint in a violent neighborhood violates citizens’ rights.
She said a better example was a 1999 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an anti-gang loitering ordinance in Chicago.
It’s not just traditional liberals who are worried about the quarantine. Roger Pilon, a vice president at the libertarian Cato Institute, said D.C.’s emphasis on "legitimate reason" is too vague and gives police too much discretion — never a good combination to survive a constitutional challenge.
D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, D-at large, said he’s worried about the city’s attitude toward civil rights, and he’s considering calling Judiciary Committee hearings on the matter.
"This isn’t just one initiative that’s maybe a bad idea. It’s a series of initiatives," Mendelson said. "What is going on?"
bmyers@dcexaminer.com
