ST. LOUIS — A federal judge has issued a mixed ruling in the city of Maplewood's motion to dismiss a complaint filed by a former resident who was forced to vacate her apartment due to violations of a city nuisance code.
In April, plaintiff Rosetta Watson had sued the city and various officials, claiming their actions in enacting and enforcing its nuisance policy infringed on her fundamental constitutional rights: speech, equal protection, right to travel and due process. She also claimed that being forced from her home should have been preempted by the Violence Against Women Act.
Her lawsuit seeks a declaration that the city's nuisance policy violates the U.S. and Missouri constitutions, as well as other legal provisions. She seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
According to background information in the ruling, Watson lost her occupancy permit, a requirement for residing in the city of Maplewood, after an official hearing in 2012 that was initiated because of various police calls to her residence, which the city concluded constituted a public nuisance.
The ruling indicates that between June 2010 and June 2012, Watson was the victim of four domestic violence attacks perpetrated by her former boyfriend, who is now deceased.
Watson’s rent at the Property was subsidized by a Section 8 voucher issued by the Housing Authority of St. Louis County, the ruling states.
U.S. District Judge Jean C. Hamilton of the Eastern District of Missouri on Oct. 20 allowed Watson's First Amendment challenge and due-process claims to go forward.
Hamilton, however, granted the city's motion to dismiss Watson's claim that its nuisance policy violated her right to equal protection of the law because it allegedly enforces it differently for men than women. She also granted the city's motion on Watson's allegation that her fundamental right to travel was infringed as well as her claim of preemption by the Violence Against Women Act.
Hamilton further did not rule for Maplewood in its argument that Watson's claims were barred by the res judicata and/or Rooker/Feldman doctrines.