By Sergio Barreto
“I didn’t understand how he could say I was trespassing when I had paid full fare at Western,” says Kerman. “He told me to leave the platform and head to the nonpaid area [between the turnstiles and the street]. There’s no point in leafleting in the nonpaid area–people aren’t going to pick up a leaflet as they fumble for change and run to catch a train.” He refused to budge.
Kerman’s next stop was 17th District headquarters, at 4461 N. Pulaski. He was handcuffed to an iron bench, and his belongings were confiscated. “They asked me about any identifying marks, tattoos,” he says. “They said that would make it easier to identify me if they found me as a corpse. One of the officers gave me a hard time about not having my driver’s license on me. I told him as far as I knew I didn’t need a driver’s license to ride a train.”
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He was charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a $500 fine. His bond was set at $1,000, and eventually a friend came and posted the bail.
Two years ago the CTA announced the $380 million plan to improve service on the Brown Line, which serves a lot of gentrifying neighborhoods and has seen ridership go up 9 percent a year. The CTA wanted to expand the stations to allow for eight-car trains during rush hour. “Station improvements will not be done for another five years,” Kerman says, “but Brown Line riders need relief now. Construction tends to drive riders away and inconvenience the ones that remain. Furthermore, the eight-car-train plan is intended to alleviate rush-hour train congestion. Riders would be better served by shorter trains running more frequently.”
Kerman apologized profusely, but Judge Thomas Fecarotta wasn’t impressed. The CTA’s lawyer stated that the agency wanted Kerman prosecuted for criminal trespass, and a female employee Kerman didn’t recognize identified him as the man she’d seen leafleting.
“I always make sure to pick up after myself,” says Kerman. “And if litter is the problem here, then they should ban those Tribune vending machines, because I see a lot of those newspapers on the floor.”
