From My Space

As of today Monday, January 30, 2005, the LA Superior Court has ruled in favor of Ralph Horowitz and against right of the South Central Farmers to stay on the farm. As of earlier today, the farmers are officially illegally "squatting" on the property and can be forcefully removed at any time from now on at the will of Ralph Horowitz employing the LA Sheriffs to do so. If you ever had any real interest or support in the struggle of the South Central Farm and for people's autonomy, now is the time to prepare for civil disobedience in defense of this space. Please email Fernando Flores at emonandoflo@yahoo.com to obtain the proper legal documents needed to participate in the impending civil disobedience and to become a part of the phone tree that will inform the community of Horowitz/LAPD attack on the farm. Please share this information with those you know as soon as possible.

www.southcentralfarm.com

Whats South Central Farm?

Hurray for Propery rights! Shame on the socialists who wished to take away a man's land away from him.

Although we have to accept that our country's legal system establishes the rule of law which ultimately determines relations of power, we also have to recognize that this power is at time arbitrary and often violated by those who argue for its legitimacy (witness the 2000 election, the war in iraq, the illegal surveillance of citizens, and even the corporate sponsorship of illegal immigration to suit their economic intererts which was reinforced in the president's state of the union speech last night, etc.)

If you visit the SCF's website, look under the link entitled what we are about, that explains the legal issues involved in the SCF struggle, especially the passage that notes

"The Los Angeles City Charter allows the City to sell real property it determines that it no longer needs.  Before selling property it no longer needs, the City must comply with various procedures designed to ensure that the City does not squander resources by selling property it needs.  The intent of the Charter is that the City sell only property it no longer needs.  The City’s sale of the garden property to the Horowitz interests did not comply with the procedures required for sale of property no longer needed by the City.  The Court of Appeal held, nevertheless, that the City did not have to comply with these provisions because it had not determined that it no longer needed the garden property."

I for one am not about breaking the law in the manner of the us govt. and corporate elite, but, upon the death of Coretta Scott King and the ascension of a supreme court judge with an vested interest in giving the president unlimited power, I think we need to revisit MLK's notion of just verses unjust laws and reflect more on the situation at hand in the interest of the people, not the powers that be.

Just laws are created to protect human interest. Outlawing murder, violence and kidnapping are just and universally accepted laws that everyone can agree with, they are fair in most cultures. But when laws are created to benefit the few then these laws should be scrutinized and questioned. The spirit of laws are to protect people, not special interests. The decision makers made a mistake selling this land to Mr. Horowitz. They didn't see the impact that it would make on the community. These decision makers are supposed to represent the people of Los Angeles. Just as the Police Department has the duty to Protect & Serve the people in Los Angeles, the decision makers of Los Angeles have the duty to support and provide for the people they represent. If they are unsure of the choices they have to make, they should ask the people - the people of LA clearly support the Farmers of South Central. Let the Farmers work the land. Allow non-profits and support groups create a fund to legally purchase the land, or allow the City to keep it as an official City Park, and allow the existing cartakers continue with their gardening.

"[The people] are in truth the only legitimate proprietors of the soil and government." -Thomas Jefferson

"One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws...but conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is not about property rights, but about how he got property rights.

Horowitz has never had any legal rights to the land, Judge W. Crispo ruled 3 times against him and the city still gave the land to him anyways and 25% more land! Horowitz stands to profit at the expense of the taxpayers and we will have to foot the bill.

In 1986 the city obtained the land under eminent domain and paid Horowitz 4.7 million dollars, in 1994 the department of public works sold it to LA harbor for 13.3 million.

It's very clear that the city council knew the true worth of this land and that he had no legal right to it.

But the City Council gave it away anyway for only 5.1 million and gave him 25% more land.

There is a difference of 8 million that we, the taxpayers have paid for.

This is why the community are outraged and we are tired of tolerating this form of welfare!

Horowitz knows this sale is illegal and he has an obligation to void the sale.

And as citizens we have an obligation to ensure this happens.

Horowitz and the city should nullify the sale and return the land back to the community use.