Nuisance ordinance
A nuisance ordinance, also referred to as a crime-free ordinance or a disorderly house ordinance, is a
According to the
Definitions
The original nuisance ordinances were derived from the common law system, where local governments employed prosecutions against individual citizens under the guise of the actions of said individuals hampering the "right common to the general public". These were then established into law with the creation of the legal term of nuisance. Later laws in the late 20th and into the 21st century would expand upon these laws for any desired usage of criminalizing activities by placing it under the same title of nuisance as a catch-all term. Because of this, what falls under the definition of nuisance is unclear within the legal system of any country with such a legal term and can be applied to multiple unrelated actions. However, these laws are always tried in criminal court and not civil court, making nuisance ordinance violations always a criminal act.[2]
A variation of these ordinances are referred to legally as chronic nuisance ordinances, which are functionally identical to nuisance ordinances but allow a vague leeway of multiple "nuisance" charges being required before eviction is enacted. How many times are allowed varies between municipalities, along with whether they are applied to only rental properties or residential homes as well. Some versions of these ordinances also have a "buffer zone" determined around a residence that is considered a part of the property as well and any crimes committed within the bounds of that zone, even if the rental or home owner was uninvolved in the criminal incident, are used as a penalty against the owner.[3]
History
The laws for nuisance doctrines (or what was referred to as the "doctrine of private nuisance") were first recorded in
The expansion of nuisance doctrines to include violations of anything deemed against the public order occurred over the following centuries, with the 18th century on seeing them applied commonly to prevent practices such as the
As of 2021, 37 out of the 40 largest cities in the United States have implemented some form of nuisance ordinance law, with more than half having eviction of the tenant as the penalty for violation and with 5 of the cities including calling for
Legal cases
One of the earliest recorded cases in the United States to deal with a property nuisance ordinance law was
A
Impacts and outcomes
A 2018 study by Mead et al. found that there are four primary kinds of crimes that are reported and then charged under nuisance ordinances: domestic violence, mental health crises, drug overdoses, and non-criminal activities such as children playing in the area around the property and being reported as nuisances. The study also found that housing that is commonly targeted by nuisance ordinances are those under a
A case study by Gretchen W. Arnold (2016) on the impact of nuisance ordinances on women undergoing domestic violence found that these laws reduced the health and safety of women in neighborhoods with such ordinances and significantly reduced the likelihood of the abuse victims calling emergency services. This not only caused an escalation in the level of abuse, but also reduced the safety and quality of the neighborhoods as a whole and resulted in greater criminal activity in the municipalities in question.[10]
References
- ^ "I Am Not A Nuisance: Local Ordinances Punish Victims Of Crime". aclu.org. American Civil Liberties Union. 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c Katach, Salim (Spring 2015). "A Tenant's Procedural Due Process Right in Chronic Nuisance Ordiance Jurisdictions". Hofstra Law Review. 43 (3): 875–908. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
- ^ Gavin, Amanda K. (2014). "Chronic Nuisance Ordinances: Turning Victims of Domestic Violence into "Nuisances" in the Eyes of Municipalities" (PDF). Penn State Law Review. 119 (1): 257–278. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ Kastner, Anna (August 2015). "The Other War at Home: Chronic Nuisance Laws and the Revictimization of Survivors of Domestic Violence". California Law Review. 103 (4): 1047–1079. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ Haderlie, Elizabeth; Shaaban, Layla (April 2021). "Domestic Violence Victims, A Nuisance to Society?: Moving Toward A More Equitable System in Protecting Vulnerable Women". Brigham Young University Prelaw Review. 35 (12): 139–154. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ Holtzman, Emily (2020). "Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence from Chronic Nuisance Ordinances". Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, & Social Justice. 9 (1): 44–65. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Enforcement of Local Nuisance and Crime-Free Housing Ordinances Against Victims of Domestic Violence, Other Crime Victims, and Others Who Require Police or Emergency Services" (PDF). hud.gov. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. September 13, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ Mead, Joseph; Hatch, Megan E.; Tighe, J. Rosie; Pappas, Marissa; Andrasik, Kristi; Bonham, Elizabeth (March 24, 2018). "Treating Neighbors as Nuisances: Troubling Applications of Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances" (PDF). Cleveland State Law Review. 66 (3): 1–15. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ Jarwala, Alisha; Singh, Sejal (July 2019). "When Disability Is a 'Nuisance': How Chronic Nuisance Ordinances Push Residents with Disabilities Out of Their Homes" (PDF). Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review. 54: 875–915. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- S2CID 41566514. Retrieved January 4, 2022.