Post Type
Williams v. City of Antioch
About the Campaign
Public Advocates and our partners reached a settlement in a class action civil rights lawsuit against the City of Antioch for engaging in a harassment campaign against Black Section 8 residents. In the settlement, the City agreed that the Antioch Police Department would stop targeting Black Section 8 residents, except when race is used to identify a specific suspect in a crime.
“It’s a relief that this is finally resolved and that people will be watching to make sure Antioch doesn’t try to push out any other families like mine,” said Santeya Williams, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, and a former Antioch renter who lived in housing subsidized by Section 8.
Public Advocates sued after finding that, while Section 8 residents made up only 5% of Antioch households, they were the target of two-thirds of Community Action Team (a special unit of the Antioch Police Department) investigations. This unit targeted Black residents at an even higher rate. 46% of Antioch’s Section 8 households were Black but 67% of CAT targets were Black.
“Suburban poverty is on the rise all over the country, and many communities are finding constructive responses that welcome their new residents rather than criminalize them,” said Richard Marcantonio, Managing Attorney at Public Advocates. “With this settlement, the City of Antioch has taken an important step in that direction.”
As part of the terms of the settlement, the City agreed to pay $180,000 to the five named plaintiffs.