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

[Cope Cumpston]

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.
>