T-Shirt Seller Makes Her Case--and $36,852

Julie Chalmers came out to California seven years ago hoping to make some money selling souvenir T-shirts to fans of King Tutankhamen, the ancient Egyptian monarch whose splendid art treasures were on exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Instead, the former Kansas City nurse ended up in jail for a night.

Her incarceration was the result of two conflicting city laws--one containing a general prohibition on all street vendors, and another allowing street sales only by vendors who kept their wares on pushcarts and changed their locations every 10 minutes.

Chalmers took advantage of the pushcart exception, while the police insisted that the general prohibition law applied across the board.

The woman sued the city in 1978, seeking $250,000. A federal court jury awarded her $28,223 in 1982, but an unsuccessful appeal by the city delayed payment for nearly three years.

Check for $36,852

On Friday, the city presented Chalmers, 37, with a check for $36,852, which includes interest, for lost profits and deprivation of due process.

Chalmers’ attorney, John B. Murdock of Santa Monica, said the sum awarded in 1982 was $3,000 more than his client had originally agreed to settle for seven years ago.

“People said you can’t fight city hall, and I didn’t believe it,” a delighted Chalmers said Friday after receiving her check. “I know individuals do have rights if they just stand up for them.”

Chalmers, who now works as a color consultant in Santa Cruz, said she went through all the correct legal channels to get permission to sell the T-shirts. Nevertheless, she said, police repeatedly ordered her to stop selling the shirts, citing the stricter law.

Deputy City Atty. Marcia H. Kamine said Chalmers began selling the shirts during a 30-day amnesty period after resolution of the conflict in favor of the stricter law. Technically, therefore, the old law was still in effect when police arrested Chalmers for violating the new one.

“The court has made its decision,” Kamine said. “At this point, we’re going along with it. That (lawsuits such as the one filed by Chalmers) is what preserves the integrity of our system. I see nothing wrong with what she did, but the city felt strongly that she was not caught in the web that she said she was in.”