In this case, the ACLU represented a group of Santa Rosa renters who, in 1981, chose to vigorously protest "rent increases of 80% to as much as 140%" enacted by the plaintiffs, including Bruce Moore, Carroll Moore, Sandra Sanford, Peter Sanford, and Pasquale K. Ragonizzi Foundation, doing business as a company called Western Shelter Management Company. To protest the rent increase, renters organized a strike and posted fliers in English and Spanish on and around the property, advising others to not rent from Bruce Moore, the owner. The property, located at 1855 Petaluma Hill Road, comprised of forty cabins and duplexes and occupied, according to the renters, by those who are "mostly low income, students, and the elderly." The renters allege unsafe and unsanitary living conditions, which is confirmed by a Sonoma County Building Inspection document. The rent strike resulted in eviction notices for the tenants, as well as a lawsuit.

The landlord, Bruce Moore, alleged libel and tortious interference ("intentional interference with contractual relations, in the common law of torts, occurs when one person intentionally damages someone else's contractual or business relationships with a third party causing economic harm") and sought damanges in the amount of $50,000 against "the defendants and each of them."

Though the case correspondence doesn't have information about the verdict, ACLU Staff Counsel Maggie Crosby wrote to another lawyer, "The situation...is a cause celebre in Sonoma - big articles in the local newspapers about people battling the slumlord."