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Civil Rights complaint.

A civil rights complaint against the city was filed by three residents on November 4, 2015. The Institute of Justice is representing the case for the three people of Pagedale. The case is currently pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The civil rights complaint was brought against the city by three residents in Pagedale. Vincent Blount,Valerie Whitner, Mildred Bryant.The lawyers for the plaintiffs are from the Institute of Justice. The lawyers are William Maurer, Joshua House, and Justin Wilson.

The civil rights complaint is being filed in claims that the three residents of Pagedale are being stripped of their rights to due process. The Institute is looking to get the civil rights complaint into a class-action lawsuit, and to receive an injunction against the non-traffic fines the city has been issuing. Sam Alton, is the attorney for the city. The city has claimed that there is no wrongdoing and that the 14th amendment is being followed.

According to the city code in Pagedale, the residents are not allowed to have "a basketball hoop, volleyball net, swimming or wading pool or other recreational equipment shall be utilized on or permitted on any portion of residential property in front of the front line of any dwelling". Other infractions of the code include having hedges over three feet in the front yard, having any antenna dish device in the front of the yard, any front street facing window or doors shall have proper treatments in a neat presentable matter, and if a person in the city has their pants low enough to show his skin or underwear, the person can receive a fine up to $100.

The city, from 2010-2014, had an increase of 495% in non traffic cases, and wrote 2,255 non-traffic citations in 2014. As of 2014, 40% of the citations in Pagedale were for non traffic offenses.Senate Bill 5 in Missouri passed in 2015. The bill allows for St. Louis county cities to receive a maximum of 12.5% of their total budget from traffic fines. The percent allowed for city budgets from traffic fines before Senate Bill 5 passed was 30%. In 2013, Pagedale had a total revenue of a little over two million dollars and about 18% came from fees and fines.