Five more plaintiffs have joined a federal lawsuit claiming the City of Buffalo and its police department are engaging in discriminatory practices regarding checkpoints and traffic tickets.
The lawsuit is being bolstered by five new plaintiffs. The suit, titled Black Love Resists in the Rust v. The City of Buffalo, was originally filed in June of 2018 and alleges the city is overpolicing Black and Brown neighborhoods by using checkpoints to arbitrarily issue tickets.
Plaintiff Ebony Yeldon was a taxi cab and school bus driver who was pulled over and ticketed for illegally tinted windows and without proof of insurance. She was driving her company car. The situation cost her her Commercial Drivers License, and much more.
“I lost my highest paying job,” she said. “I lost my car, both that I needed to take care of my children.”
The lawsuit also alleges the fines and fees collected from the traffic tickets act as another revenue stream for the city.
Other filers on the suit include the Western New York Law Center, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice. Currently, the lawsuit is in the discovery process.
