Bad Judge: Woman Jailed For Having Messy Yard

[Capn]

so·ci·e·ty (s-s-t)
n. pl. so·ci·e·ties

The totality of social relationships among humans.
A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture.
The institutions and culture of a distinct self-perpetuating group.

so·cial·ism (ssh-lzm)
n.
Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

No, we aren't socialists, don't know what you're thinking how I said we were, but we are part of a society. If you don't want to be, you are free to go live in the back woods.

 

[warcleric]

Capn: guess what idiot, I am free to live wherever I please.

 

[GL]

Hehe I guess that's where we differ. I agree in a person's right to responsibly own private property Owning a house and then acting like a 5 year old whose parent forgot to tell them to clean up is ridiculously irresponsible and careless. She knew the bylaws when she bought the house.

 

[PG]

You also dont lose anything unless you decide to sell.


Then why do people get upset when the stock market takes a dump?
Property is an investment, just like the stock market. Everyone wants it to grow in value over time, not drop.

 

[ucdnam]

Hmmmm the home looks alright to me.
I've seen dirty and that isn't it.
I hope the neighbors have it coming to them.
I wouldn't be surprised if they find their lawn bleached or whatever else she'd do when she gets out. And who knows, she may crack and blow them away. Woohoo!

 

[Amused]

<< When you decide to join a society and live amongst others, you give up personal freedoms. You are not limited to live in any one town, if this lady really wants to live in squalor she should move to a place that is more friendly to that type of behavior. >>



Why? She owns the property, does she not? Maybe YOU decide to give up freedoms, but you have no right to decide that for others.

 

[Capn]

warcleric, personal attacks are not needed.

 

[Amused]

<< AmusedOne when you keep on moving because you don't like your neighbours you get the dirty rotting urban American centres that exist today. But that's ok, because there's always a further suburb to move to. It's like clothing; we force people to wear clothes in public - they can wear clothes that are an eyesore but at least they wear something. >>



Yep, and following your logic about the woman's yard, nasty clothing will be outlawed too. Hell, why don't your socialist little utopias just start a public dress code?

 

[GL]

But AmusedOne, do you really own the property? If you did, you could secede from the U.S. If you did, you could claim you were a sovereign territory and not pay taxes. Let's be realistic. The U.S. is a societal construct of sorts and you own - with limitations - property within it.

 

[GL]

AmusedOne, that's funny. The Conservatives are issuing a public dress code for public schools in Ontario as we speak.

 

[Capn]

Can I run around naked during rush hour in the city? No? Why not? Shouldn't we all be free? Can I play music as loud as I want wherever I want? These are freedoms that you agree to give up when you decide you want to live in the city, or anywhere in normal civilization. Yes ultimately we should be free to do whatever the hell we want, but it doesn't really work that way when you have to live with everybody else.

 

[ucdnam]

Wonder if some think that everyone should drive their prefernce for cars and color of cars also. Unless you live in one of those communities, you should do as you please as long as you're not endangering anyone. Look at her yard in that picture and tell me that's a danger to someone.

 

[Imported]

Couldn't you sue for loss of property value if it was your neighbors fault?

Nevermind.. you can sue for anything nowadays.

 

[TripleJ]

I think you guys are starting to miss the point now. Alright, it may be a messy yard, but going to jail for it?! Come on. I'd like to think there were better ways of resolving an issue such as this.

 

[GL]

ucdnam, but we do limit cars as well. Try and buy a stock Italian Lamborghini and ship it to North America and drive it. Of course we're not limiting colour, but if you really want that stock Italian Lamborghini, you'll either have to drive it solely on private property or in Europe because their safety regulations differ from ours.

 

[GL]

TripleJ, the city went to this woman and asked her to clean up multiple times. After ignoring these warnings, she was given one year probation. After ignoring this, what's left to do other than a few weeks in jail?

 

[ucdnam]

I knew about limiting cars also and it's probably for the same reason some used to get this woman into jail, endangering yourself and others.

But if you look at the picture, it doesn't pose any problems. Now, if she had put punji traps in her lawn and bushes so your pets would go and piss on it, maybe I'd understand.

But this case would be similar to coloring your car rainbow and driving around. Of course, I know a friend who had a lawn that needed mowing and his neighbors came and did it for him. I guess they were nice. I'd still yell at them because maybe I was attempting to collect insects for class

 

[GL]

It's a borderline issue. I frankly don't care whether you grow exotic plants on your front yard but don't put unnatural objects on the yard. If you've ever lived next to a neighbour that started to make your neighbourhood resemble the ones on Cops, you'd probably have a change of opinion. Bad paint job, bad gardening - that's bad taste. Junk on the yard - that's just gotta go IMHO.

 

[ucdnam]

I'll agree on the junk on the yard deal. I live around 2 golf courses, so I don't get too many unsightly homes. I did live in the ghetto early in my life and those homes all had fences, which made the neighborhood dirty and told everyone that it was unsafe, and about only 10% of the lawns were green.

I'd glad she didn't use the art defense, stating that their mess was a piece of artwork

 

[kami]

i think a really high fine would have been better.

 

[reitz]

<< I think you still need to draw the line when someone says &quot;I live in this neighborhood and I expect everyone to act according to my standards&quot; >>

genocide, that's why the community sets the standards that all are expected to follow. In most cases, a home buyer is well aware of what sort of upkeep is expected long before the closing. IMO, if you want your house to be a sh!t hole, move to a crappy neighborhood where the standards do not exist or are not enforced.

The other angle to be considered is possible health and safety issues. Rats and mosquitos are two common concerns, and they are often the reason these laws are enforced, even when the mess is out of view. I once rented a house next door to what could best be described as a &quot;trash heap&quot;, and we had to put out rat poison almost daily until the borough finally ordered the home owner to clean up.

 

[warcleric]

reitz: well then all bird feeders/lawn fountains/swimming pools need to be outlawed immediately, they are breeding grounds for mosquitos. Along these same lines it is also illegal in many areas to work on your own car on your property, does that change anyones tone? You cannot legally change your own oil, but then with all the prissy elitists in this thread I suppose you would never do such a thing anyway.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Well, to me it looks like she might have pretty regular yard sales, the things look like they are mostly up on a table or something. Unless you have a lot of things resting on the ground, or rotting food, I don't think table clutter is a social menance or community danger.

I can't stand someone's nose up my... behind, so my sympathy is with the jailed woman in this case.

If you want a lot of regimentation then you need to move into one of those little communities where they dictate every aspect of what is or is not allowed on your property, at least as seen from the street.

 

[BDawg]

Saying that this is against her rights is bullsh*t. Her rights end when they infringe on the rights of others.

Her property is an eyesore and detracts from the values of other's property. They have city ordinaces against this kind of thing.

The judge did everything she could before sending this woman to jail. I feel no remorse at all.

 

[GL]

<< Along these same lines it is also illegal in many areas to work on your own car on your property, does that change anyones tone? >>



Frankly, no Working on your car has a beneficial purpose to you and I think it should be allowed. Being lazy and leaving junk all over your property is simply detrimental.