[Peace-discuss] [SDaS] Could we legally shut down the IMC?

[Robert Naiman]

I'm not necessarily interested in participating in further discussion
in these fora. I think I made my point. Others can do as they like. I
think the IMC owes the community an accounting. I hope and expect that
accounting will be forthcoming.

On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 10:08 AM, Cope Cumpston <cope.c at comcast.net> wrote:
> Goodness, this is a rather alarmist email to land in my box without much
> explanation. There are many good things that happen at the IMC daily; I'm
> aware of one "bad thing" that I know the board of directors of the IMC has
> discussed in meetings and is willing to discuss with concerned people,
> namely me when I asked.
>
> Wouldn't it be more constructive to build up a conversation rather than
> proposing knocking down an institution, using language that is incendiary to
> my ears, without setting a scene and explaining concerns more specifically?
> I really don't know what the issue is and am a concerned community member
> with considerable investment in the mission of the IMC and its success.
>
> My inclination is to dismiss this rather than engage in an open discussion,
> until it is presented to me in a more community-minded  and responsible way.
>
> Cope
> ___________________________
>
> Copenhaver Cumpston
> 1403 South Busey Avenue
> Urbana, IL 61801
> 217-714-2389
>
>
>
>
> On 11/6/12 8:05 AM, "Robert Naiman" <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org> wrote:
>
>> Dear friends,
>>
>> I've become convinced that the IMC has become a kind of Frankenstein
>> monster, a clear and present danger to the community. I've also become
>> convinced that there is little realistic prospect that the IMC will
>> reform itself to become a responsible and accountable institution,
>> answerable to the community in which it resides.
>>
>> The reason I have become convinced of this is that, unlike other
>> community institutions, when something bad happens in the IMC, there
>> is no clear address for responsibility and accountability. If a bad
>> thing happened in some other community institution, there would be a
>> clear address for complaint and redress. You could call the Executive
>> Director. You could contact someone on the Board. Responsible people
>> would tell you what their plans were for redress. There would be a
>> meeting of responsible people, empowered to take action. The meeting
>> would discuss: why did this happen, what can we do and what will we do
>> to try to stop this from happening in the future. But when something
>> bad happens in the IMC, there is no meeting of responsible people,
>> empowered to take action, for the simple reason that there can't be.
>> There's no such thing in the IMC as a group of responsible people,
>> empowered to take action. Because this is the case, there is a culture
>> of impunity in the IMC. And this is intrinsically dangerous to the
>> community. If the Urbana police announced, "in this three block
>> radius, we are no longer going to enforce the law," that would be
>> intrinsically dangerous to the community. That hasn't happened in this
>> case, of course. But there is a culture in the IMC of being above the
>> law and beyond accountability, and that is intrinsically dangerous to
>> the community.
>>
>> Therefore, since effective reform of the IMC seems impossible, I have
>> come to the conclusion that legal avenues should be explored to force
>> the IMC to shut down.
>>
>> I'm interested in brainstorming means by which the community could
>> legally force the IMC to shut down. Broadly speaking, I have two
>> ideas.
>>
>> 1. Civil lawsuit. The community could launch a civil lawsuit against
>> the IMC, seeking to force it to disgorge its assets, including its
>> building. Once the building had been seized, it could be sold off to a
>> developer who would raze it and construct something of use to the
>> community, like housing.
>>
>> 2. Action by the City of Urbana.
>>
>> A. The City of Urbana is legally empowered to seize the building by
>> eminent domain for a public purpose. The legal standard for this is
>> actually quite low. If the community came up with a reasonable plan
>> for seizing the building by eminent domain and using the land for a
>> public purpose, I have no doubt that we could get five votes on the
>> Urbana City Council for it.
>>
>> B. Zoning change or other legal change. The zoning of the IMC could be
>> changed so that it would be no longer possible to maintain an IMC-like
>> no-accountability institution there. The City could require that any
>> non-profit in the area have a legally accountable Executive Director.
>>
>> C. Vigorous enforcement of existing law. Typically, it's the case that
>> laws aren't enforced to the letter. A community pressure campaign
>> could push the City of Urbana to vigorously enforce all existing laws
>> with respect to the IMC. The IMC building is old. Probably it has code
>> violations. These could be enforced. Also, I think a regular parade of
>> uniformed city officials marching through the building would be
>> salutary. These things could help foster the perception inside the IMC
>> that it's not a Lord of the Flies island of no accountability, but
>> physically exists inside the City of Urbana where the rule of law
>> prevails.
>>
>> I'm sure others have ideas for legal means that we can use to end the
>> threat that the IMC represents to the community. I would be very
>> interested to hear them.
>>
>
>
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org