ACLU, California city settle lawsuit over artwork protesting police brutality

The city of Pomona and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California have settled a lawsuit over murals protesting police brutality that were painted on the exterior walls of a social justice nonprofit group s center The settlement signed in May and revealed Monday July ends legal action filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California on behalf of Gente Organizada or Organized People which runs a youth center on West Holt Avenue The ACLU sued the city in after Pomona leaders that year cited and fined Gente for paintings on its youth center Formed in Gente works with communities that comprise historically underrepresented immigrant populations to understand their rights and the power of public action the lawsuit states Artwork that was the subject of a lawsuit against the city of Pomona is seen on the wall of the Gente Organizada youth center in the city It depicts protesters marching with a Tim Sandoval Defund Pomona Police sign a reference to Pomona s mayor Courtesy of ACLU of Southern California A mural outside the of Gente Organizada youth center in Pomona that was the subject of a lawsuit against the city of Pomona is seen Titled For the People its shows images from a Black Lives Matter protest in the city Courtesy of ACLU Foundation of Southern California Gente Organizada in Pomona is seen on Tuesday July The nonprofit group supports youth and immigrant families in the city Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building for Gente Organizada works at the office in Pomona on Tuesday July Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building for Gente Organizada reads painted signs outside the organization s office in Pomona on Tuesday July Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building of Gente Organizada sits in the lounge area of the office Tuesday July Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building of Gente Organizada works at the office in Pomona on Tuesday July Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building stands at the entrance of the Gente Organizada office in Pomona on Tuesday July Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Ivan Hernandez director of movement building stands near the Gente Organizada office in Pomona on Tuesday July Gente Organizada is a nonprofit organization that supports youth and immigrant families in Pomona Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul The Sun SCNG Show Caption of Artwork that was the subject of a lawsuit against the city of Pomona is seen on the wall of the Gente Organizada youth center in the city It depicts protesters marching with a Tim Sandoval Defund Pomona Police sign a reference to Pomona s mayor Courtesy of ACLU of Southern California Expand At issue were three murals on the youth center s exterior walls Those murals were vandalized after we went community with everything and had to be replaced Ivan Hernandez Gente s director of movement building explained via email One exhibited a group of protesters marching with a sign reading Tim Sandoval Defund Pomona Police Sandoval is Pomona s mayor Another mural titled For the People proved a roll of film with images from a Black Lives Matter protest in Pomona The third mural depicted people standing in a field of flowers above the slogan End Institutional Violence The lawsuit alleged that the city contended the murals violated Pomona s zoning ordinance which forbids certain signs and banners Besides fining Gente the city sent the citation to the home of Gente Organizada s co-founder and threatened him that unless he and the Organization without delay got in line and took down their art the City might take criminal action to force them to do so the lawsuit states View this document on Scribd The ACLU argued that the city s actions violated Gente s First Amendment rights The lawsuit also alleged a city hearing officer who upheld the citations made several clear legal and factual errors and Pomona s sign code applied to business-related signs not expressions of political beliefs The settlement calls on Pomona to rework its sign code to eliminate provisions in the law that violated the society s constitutional rights to free speech and expression an ACLU news release states Gente s lawyers also will have the chance to weigh in on upcoming changes to Pomona s constituents art code before those changes go to the city council Related Articles Fighting against removal Sheriff Corpus formally denies corruption statements in San Mateo court Mother sues Monterey County police department for allegedly using excessive force in son s death California police increasingly present at ICE raids walk tightrope to stay out of immigration enforcement San Jose cop charged with molesting girl was accused of domestic violence sought foster parent credential Sheriff Corpus removal hearing scheduled for August masses access still in question The city also agreed to let Gente mount new artwork without the need for new permits for the next five years And Pomona will pay Gente s legal squad for legal fees and refund Gente for what the nonprofit organization paid for citations Hernandez of Gente praised the settlement While Pomona attempted to block our right to free speech and weaponized city code so that we could not exercise our right to artistic expression we are grateful this litigation resulted in changes in the city code that uphold our constitutional rights ensuring that other Pomona organizations are not unfairly subjected to improper citations and fines Hernandez revealed in the release The release quoted Jonathan Markovitz an ACLU staff attorney as saying We hope this event inspires other cities to honor fundamental rights to free speech and expression when considering their own zoning and sign codes Pomona Assistant City Manager Mark Gluba declined to comment on the settlement