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The city of Progreso and the Texas Civil Rights Project have settled a lawsuit over that municipality abusing pandemic-era curfews for profit.
The Texas Civil Rights Project, or TCRP, filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Progreso on behalf of Socrates Shawn, who was 18 years old when Progreso police arrested him for allegedly violating the pandemic-era curfew for teens.
“We’re proud of securing this victory on behalf of our client, who like many others in this small town, was pulled over without any individualized suspicion, arrested, and made to pay an excessive fine,” said Travis Fife, an attorney with TCRP’s Criminal Injustice Program.
In a news release, the TCRP noted that police in Progreso, which has a population of around 6,000, used Hidalgo County’s “Shelter at Home” order to conduct traffic stops on at least 82 people in just two months.
“At least 46 of those were arrested, had their vehicles impounded, and had to pay steep fines merely for being on the road, frequently going to the store or caring for family in the area,” the release stated.
In Shawn’s case, the TCRP said he was illegally stopped for allegedly violating the curfew while driving between his divorced parents’ home in 2020 two hours before the curfew began.
A court had ordered Shawn to spend his time between his divorced parents’ home and he was following that court order.
“Not only did officers unnecessarily pull people over and arrest him outside of the designated curfew hours, but they denied having any reasonable suspicion outside of the City order to do so,” the release stated.
The settlement requires three actions from the city of Progreso, which it agreed to do, according to the TCRP.
The city of Progreso must pay Shawn damages for the collateral consequences of the arrest on his future; it must identify all other people with currency outstanding charges, warrants or fees owed to the enforcement of the pandemic-era curfew; and it must dismiss all active cases, warrants and fees stemming from charges levied under those curfews.
“With this settlement, the City is taking ownership of the harm it inflicted upon the community through the policy of excessive and unnecessary enforcement of the pandemic curfew orders, and is not just providing relief to our client, but has agreed to identify and dismiss any remaining cases charged under the City’s stop-everyone-in-town policy,” Fife said in the release.
Federal court records indicate that the parties filed an agreed order of dismissal due to the settlement on July 18 and that U.S. District Judge Ricardo H. Hinojosa signed off on it last Thursday.
