{"id":774,"date":"2016-07-29T16:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www2.law.temple.edu\/csj\/?p=774"},"modified":"2021-11-23T19:09:14","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T19:09:14","slug":"phillys-problematic-live-stop-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/csj\/2016\/07\/29\/phillys-problematic-live-stop-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly’s problematic “Live Stop” policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a Philadelphia motorist is found to be driving without a valid license or registration, the Police Department tows and impounds the car.\u00a0 The driver must pay — sometimes upwards of\u00a0$1,000 — to get the car back,<\/em>\u00a0in addition to any fines resulting from the violation.<\/p>\n

State law does not actually require towing in most of these situations. But the City\u2019s \u201cLive Stop\u201d policy calls for it anyway, mostly ignoring other options. According to Karen Hoffmann and Katelyn Mays, students in the Social Justice Lawyering Clinic who recently wrote a report<\/a>\u00a0on Live Stop, \u201cPhiladelphia seems to be one of the only cities in the nation with such an aggressive [towing and impoundment] policy.\u201d\u00a0(Some exceptions were created in response to a 2011 lawsuit filed by Stephen Sheller, who helped to create the Sheller Center for Social Justice.)<\/p>\n

Among those harmed by the policy are undocumented immigrants, since \u2013 in a double whammy \u2013 state law makes them ineligible for drivers\u2019 licenses (a problem discussed in another Sheller Center report<\/a>). Thus, when an undocumented driver is stopped for even a minor violation, a license violation is also found and\u00a0the car is towed. As Ms. Hoffmann notes, many of these drivers have valid registrations and insurance: \u201cThese are people who are trying to do the right thing, and the law is getting in their way.\u201d<\/p>\n

More generally, Live Stop\u00a0imposes needless financial hardship on people who are struggling to get by. \u00a0As the report puts it, \u201cPhiladelphia should not have a policy that unnecessarily impoverishes city residents.\u201d According to Ms. Hoffmann, moreover, the City seems unclear about how the policy was created or why it exists. \u201cI learned how obscure city policies can be,” she says, “and how hard it can be to get to the root of where they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

In researching the policy, the team worked closely with the New Sanctuary Movement, many of whose members have been affected by Live Stop. The experience, according to Ms. Hoffman, was \u201cvaluable, sometimes frustrating, definitely eye-opening.\u201d \u00a0Read the full report here, in English<\/a>\u00a0or Spanish<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a Philadelphia motorist is found to be driving without a valid license or registration, the Police Department tows and impounds the car.\u00a0 The driver must pay — sometimes upwards of\u00a0$1,000 — to get the car back,\u00a0in addition to any fines resulting from the violation. State law does not actually require towing in most of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"generate_page_header":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,12,16],"class_list":["post-774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-access-to-civil-justice","tag-criminal-justice","tag-immigrants-rights"],"yoast_head":"\nPhilly's problematic "Live Stop" policy - Stephen and Sandra Sheller Center for Social Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/law.temple.edu\/csj\/2016\/07\/29\/phillys-problematic-live-stop-policy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Philly's problematic "Live Stop" policy - Stephen and Sandra Sheller Center for Social Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When a Philadelphia motorist is found to be driving without a valid license or registration, the Police Department tows and impounds the car.\u00a0 The driver must pay — sometimes upwards of\u00a0$1,000 — to get the car back,\u00a0in addition to any fines resulting from the violation. 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