Misunderstanding led to lawsuit
Observer editorial
Not only was the lawsuit involving Lafayette Apartments a colossal misunderstanding, but it was also an avoidable one.
Police told students they could host parties in their backyards. So students did. They kept their parties contained to the backyard and made sure guests stayed out of the parking lots and front yards.
Residents did everything police told them to do.
But apparently, those weren't the right things to do.
Despite taking these precautions, the city filed a lawsuit against Lafayette's landlord following the Sept. 6 Kickoff Classic party, stating that the apartment complex was a public nuisance.
Students were then told by their landlord they could not, in fact, hold gatherings anywhere outside the apartments, without prior permission from the landlord. The police had been mistaken.
As students feared they would be assessed attorney's fees or be sued themselves, they maintained the conflicting rules confused them. The police said one thing. The landlord said another. And the students didn't know who to believe.
If authority figures want people to respect rules, they must enforce them evenly and make sure they are known, rather than creating additional uncertainty for students.
Students should be held to the same standards under the law as any other citizens. If they throw rowdy parties and in effect invite police action, they must deal with the consequences of their actions.
But at the same time, students should be valued just as much as any other South Bend residents. They should be treated with the same dignity as any other apartment tenants.
And that means the police and their landlords owe them the respect to communicate with one another, to coordinate what they tell students and to cooperate with each other's rules and regulations.
If they expect students to obey the law and comply with the terms of their lease, they must make their instructions clear. They need to distinguish between the law and the lease so students know what is permissible under each, especially since some behavior is legal but not allowed according to the terms of the leases.
Police, tenants and landlords have now begun to work together to solve this problem. This is a commendable step in the right direction.
But this type of communication should have started long ago. If it had, the City of South Bend and Lafayette Apartments could have avoided the whole legal mess in the first place.
In the future, when students ask what type of behavior is permissible on and around their property, they deserve a straightforward, well-researched answer, not two or three contradictory ones.
Students need to know on whom to rely and who to trust when it comes to important legal matters.
If students, police officers and tenants show each other mutual respect, communicate regularly and aim for a common understanding, they can avoid another mishap like the one at Lafayette.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, December 6, 2002
