There is an urgent need to speak out and prevent the Ashland City Council from passing a “Stop and ID” ordinance in Ashland! Please read below for full details and directions.
WHAT: Rally before Ashland City Council Mtg – Protect Civil Liberties. No Stop and ID law! Please wear green.
WHEN: Tuesday, July 16 at 5:30pm. You can also stay for the City Council meeting that begins at 7pm and sign up by 6:45pm to testify. There will be talking points you can use. Most impacted folks are especially encouraged to testify.
WHERE: City Council chambers at 1175 E Main Street in Ashland.
WHO: Organized by the Rogue Action Center (RAC) and allied groups and individuals. The RAC is a local multi-racial non-profit that serves as a hub for organizing around social, racial and environmental justice issues. I volunteer on their board and they are based in Phoenix, OR. You can join their email list here to get future updates on this and other important local issues.
WHY: Community members are rallying outside of Ashland City Council Chambers right before the July 16th Council Meeting to urge Council members to reverse their vote on Ordinance 3176. This ordinance threatens civil liberties in Ashland by allowing the Ashland Police to demand that a person provide their full legal name and date of birth to police if any officer believes they have “probable cause” that a city code has been violated (this is different than committing a crime, city codes could be smoking in a no smoking area, giving out food in the Plaza, or sleeping in the park, for example). Failure to provide this information would lead to a misdemeanor charge, up to 30 days in jail, and a $1,250 fine, deepening the cycle of poverty and trauma for many already living on the edge and most likely to be targeted by police.
On June 18th the Ashland City Council voted 5-1 to pass Ordinance 3176 in spite of 17 community members including leaders of color, LGBTQ+ community members, those with lived experience of housing insecurity, and allies, testifying against it for almost an hour.
Even though 5 councilors and the mayor supported Ordinance 3176, it is not law yet. On Tuesday, July 16th it will be read at council again and we all have a chance to urge councilors to reverse this decision and defeat Stop and ID in Ashland before it can spread to other cities.
WHO COULD BE HURT: This ordinance threatens civil liberties, putting people of color, LGBTQ folks, youth, and houseless community members at greater risk of harassment and criminalization.
– Trans and gender non-conforming community members could be forced to out themselves by giving their legal name, increasing the significant risks these community members already face in our society
– Those already being targeted and harassed by police such as people of color, the houseless community, and youth would have fewer ways to protect themselves, losing even the ability to not identify and potentially incriminate themselves
– If Oregon were to lose its sanctuary state status, this law would be another way to identify and deport our undocumented friends and neighbors
I can’t go on Tuesday, what else can I do?
3 MORE WAYS TO HELP DEFEAT STOP AND ID IN ASHLAND:
1) Email the whole council using the email address council@ashland.or.us
2) Sign the petition urging Ashland City Council to stop this harmful ordinance before it becomes law:https://docs.google.com/
3) Share the Rally Facebook Event and link to the petition on facebook here. More Info
People losing our right to remain silent when a crime has not been committed, but a city code may have been violated, is a problem for many reasons. One reason is that Ashland, like other cities in Oregon, has city codes in effect which target the homeless. According to the Oregon ACLU, there are at least 227 specific city codes in cities across the state unfairly targeting houseless people.
Do cities use these laws? Yes. Reporting from the Mail Tribune in 2018 found that “Ashland in particular has a history of citing people for illegal camping, handing out 129 tickets in 2015, 145 in 2016 and more than 300 through October 2017.”
Please email council@ashland.or.us
You can read the ordinance here: http://www.ashland.or.
You can watch a video of the June 18th City Council Meeting and all of the public testimony against the ordinance here:https://videoplayer.
