The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to pay up to $30 million as part of a class action lawsuit over its use of gang injunction curfews that were previously deemed unconstitutional.
Under the terms of the settlement, the city would commit at least $4.5 million and as much as $30 over four years to job training, tattoo removal and other community programs. The city would also cover the legal expenses of the plaintiffs, which are estimated at up to $5 million.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, has agreed to no longer enforce the curfews, which aim to reduce gang activity by prohibiting gang members and their affiliates from socializing with one another. Critics say the curfews often ensnared innocent people with no gang ties who were subsequently disallowed from going outside after 10 p.m.—a program that turned the city into a “Jim Crow-era ‘Sundown Town’ for thousands of minorities,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorney, Olu K. Orange.
Wednesday’s settlement still needs federal court approval. It ends a contentious five-year court battle and “creates opportunities for gang members to obtain basic job skills… that can turn their lives around,” Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer said.
Read more about Wednesday’s vote here.