Barbara Scott, Sui Juris
c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776
Tucson, Arizona Republic
Postal Code 85719/tdc
tel: (520) 624-7220
fax: (520) 323-3922
In Propria Persona
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
People of the Arizona Republic ) No. CIV-96-150-TUC-WDB
)
Ex Relatione Barbara Scott, Sui Juris,) NOTICE AND PETITION FOR
)
Plaintiffs ) TEMPORARY INJUNCTION
)
v. ) FOR VIOLATIONS OF
)
City of Tucson, Arizona, ) FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS
)
Defendant )
______________________________________)
COME NOW the People of the Arizona Republic, Ex Relatione
Barbara Scott, Sui Juris, Citizen of Arizona, appearing In
Propria Persona, to present this First Amendment Petition for a
temporary injunction against the City of Tucson, Arizona state,
for redress of its violations of fundamental human rights, and
to provide notice to all interested parties of the same.
The City of Tucson has ordered the removal of so-called
"homeless" People from public property which is situated within
the municipal jurisdiction of the City of Tucson and which is
currently utilized by transient Americans who are destitute and
disabled by reason of their poverty. See City of Tucson,
Administrative Action Report and Summary, Agenda Item 15,
Council Action SS/March4-96-102, dated March 4, 1996 (attached
hereto as Exhibit "A").
As a political subdivision of the State of Arizona, the
City of Tucson is under an explicit Congressional mandate: (1)
to eliminate discrimination against individuals with
disabilities, (2) to provide clear, strong, consistent,
enforceable standards addressing discrimination against
individuals with disabilities, (3) to enforce the standards
established on behalf of individuals with disabilities, and
(4) to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-
day by People with disabilities. See Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., Act July 26,
1990, P.L. 101-336, 104 Stat. 327.
Moreover, the City of Tucson is bound to prevent and to
eliminate discrimination against People on account of their
poverty by virtue of two international Treaties to which the
United States is a party and which have become the supreme Law
of Our Land under the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution for
the United States of America, as lawfully amended, to wit: the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
now codified in Title 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., Congress made
the following findings which are painfully descriptive of, and
immediately relevant to, the day-to-day problems now being
faced by the homeless People who are threatened with forced
removal by the City of Tucson:
1. some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical
or mental disabilities, and this number is increasing as the
population as a whole is growing older; indeed, there is not a
single American who is not getting older by the minute;
2. historically, society has tended to isolate and
segregate individuals with disabilities, and, despite some
improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals
with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive social
problem;
3. discrimination against individuals with disabilities
persists in such critical areas as employment, housing, public
accommodations, education, transportation, communication,
recreation, institutionalization, health services, voting, and
access to public services;
4. unlike individuals who have experienced
discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national
origin, religion, or age, individuals who have experienced
discrimination on the basis of disability have often had no
legal recourse to redress such discrimination;
5. individuals with disabilities continually encounter
various forms of discrimination, including outright intentional
exclusion, the discriminatory effects of architectural,
transportation, and communications barriers, overprotective
rules and policies, failure to make modifications to existing
facilities and practices, exclusionary qualification standards
and criteria, segregation, and relegation to lesser services,
programs, activities, benefits, jobs, or other opportunities;
6. census data, national polls, and other studies have
documented that People with disabilities, as a group, occupy an
inferior status in our society, and are severely disadvantaged
socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally;
7. individuals with disabilities are a discrete and
insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and
limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal
treatment, and relegated to a position of political
powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are
beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from
stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual
ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute
to, society;
8. the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with
disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full
participation, independent living, and economic self-
sufficiency for such individuals;
9. the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary
discrimination and prejudice denies People with disabilities
the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue
those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably
famous, and costs the United States billions of dollars in
unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and
nonproductivity.
[emphasis added]
Plaintiffs argue that poverty is a disability; so is
being homeless ("housing impaired"). Plaintiffs hereby
challenge the City of Tucson to show cause why their order to
remove homeless People from public property located within the
municipal jurisdiction of the City of Tucson does not violate
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, numerous
provisions of the Constitution for the United States of America
as lawfully amended, and two international human Rights
Treaties to which the United States is a party and which bind
the City of Tucson under authority of the Supremacy Clause,
which elevates Treaties to the status of supreme Law of Our
Land.
PRAYER
Wherefore, Plaintiffs respectfully request that an
immediate temporary injunction issue from this honorable Court,
restraining the City of Tucson from executing its
administrative decision to remove homeless People from public
property situated within the municipal jurisdiction of the City
of Tucson, until such time as the City of Tucson can show cause
why its order does not violate the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, several provisions in the Constitution for the
United States of America, as lawfully amended, and two
international human Rights treaties to which the United States
is party and which are supreme Law of Our Land by virtue of the
Supremacy Clause.
Dated: March 8, 1996
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Barbara Scott
Barbara Scott, Sui Juris
In Propria Persona and Ex Relatione
The People of the Arizona Republic
PROOF OF SERVICE
I, Paul Andrew, Mitchell, Sui Juris, hereby certify that I
am at least 18 years of age, a Citizen of one of the United
States of America by birth and by blood, and not a party to the
action in the above entitled case. I served the following
document(s):
NOTICE AND PETITION FOR TEMPORARY INJUNCTION
FOR VIOLATIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS
by placing one copy of each in first-class U.S. Mail, with
postage prepaid and properly addressed to the recipient(s), as
follows:
City Attorney
City of Tucson
255 West Alameda
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Date of Service: Friday, March 8,1996.
/s/ Paul Andrew Mitchell
Paul Andrew, Mitchell, Sui Juris
Citizen of one of the United States of America
on behalf of the People of the Arizona Republic
all rights reserved without prejudice
# # #
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People v. Tucson