23 Feb
2016
23 Feb
'16
1:54 p.m.
Dear beloved Sudo,
This is PAT XU here,
TLDR – Myself and 3 other organizers are facing some serious political
repression for our activism! Come support us in court, 9 am, April 1st:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1515732032065377/
The District Attorney (DA) is aggressively prosecuting four Land Action
organizers, Kelly Jewett, Steven DeCaprio, Wren Hyde, and myself, for our
involvement in a recent adverse possession project. There are seven
criminal charges, including three felony counts and four misdemeanors.
Contrary to established precedent from similar cases in Oakland in recent
years, the DA has deliberately, and in violation of the law, pushed this
civil dispute into criminal court.
Why?
The case was brought to the DA’s attention because the property’s owner of
record was personally connected to the DA’s office. By taking advantage of
this backdoor connection, the owner persuaded the DA to drastically
overreach its jurisdiction and use public funding to intervene on the
owner’s behalf; a clear case of nepotism.
But the DA has its own political motives for attacking Land Action. In
recent years, Land Action has achieved significant victories around squat
law and adverse possession. By dragging Land Action through the mud, the DA
intends to put the entire history of squatting and adverse possession in
Oakland on trial – with the aim of criminalizing these activities.
These tactics are time-honored forms of direct action that have played a
significant role in social movements worldwide. In the past decade, squats
have housed thousands of people in the Bay Area. Adverse possession,
enshrined in the legal code of all 50 States, is as old as property law
itself. It allows people to acquire full ownership of real property with
very little capital investment, which makes it antithetical to the
ruling-class agenda of keeping working people enmeshed in the cycle of
rent-wage-exploitation.
In short, the DA is defending the commonly held belief that home ownership
should be very, extremely, prohibitively expensive—a perception that plays
right into the interests of capital.
The DA’s aggressive prosecution of Land Action’s organizers is occurring at
a time when local government has developed exceedingly cozy relations with
gentrifying forces. Last year, Oakland City Council came under fire for
offering a luxury housing developer the acre-sized 12th Street Remainder
Parcel for much less than its market value. In a confidential memo, the
City Attorney informed the Council that state law requires them to first
offer surplus land to low-income housing agencies, park agencies, school
districts, and other entities that serve the public interest. But against
the advice of their own attorney, the Council proceeded with their illegal
plan, which was already underway when the City Attorney’s memo was leaked
to the East Bay Express. Only then did public scrutiny force the Council
to bring their actions into compliance with state law.
Local government is all too willing to disregard the law in the service of
Capital and at the expense of the poor. The DA has aligned itself with
this agenda, using public funding to defend the property interests of the
land-holding class. The DA has chosen to flout the very laws it is charged
with upholding, for the sake of consolidating property rights and
maintaining access barriers to home ownership. IT IS TIME TO HOLD THEM
ACCOUNTABLE!!!
Please come pack the courthouse with us for our initial hearing! And
please forward this message to interested friends!
Time: April 1st, 9 a.m. (no foolin!)
Place:
Department 115
Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse
661 Washington St (at the intersection with 7th St.)
Oakland 94607
Free parking:
There is plenty of 4-hour parking available, south of the 880 freeway on 4th,
3rd, and 2nd Streets, within walking distance of the Courthouse.