This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Tennessee Woman Sentenced To Jail For Not Mowing Her Lawn
Submitted by Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
The trend of average U.S. citizens being incarcerated by overzealous judges and prosecutors within the police state formerly known as America continues with reckless abandon. In fact, these sorts of cases are becoming so commonplace I simply cannot keep up with all of them. The following story is a perfect followup to my piece earlier today, which shows how American public school students are being arrested or harassed by police for the most minor of infractions, such as wearing too much perfume, sharing a classmates’ chicken nuggets, throwing an eraser or chewing gum.
If you are an adult American slave, you can add not mowing your lawn to the list of prison-worthy crimes in the police state.
If you are a resident of Lenoir City, Tennessee, you might want to remember to mow your lawn — otherwise, you will be spending the night in jail.
Karen Holloway just spent six hours in a jail cell for failing to maintain her yard in accordance with the standards set by the city.
The saga began last summer, when Holloway was sent a citation for her overgrown grass and shrubbery. Holloway, who works a full-time job and has two children living at home, a husband in school, and one family vehicle, admits the yard needed some attention but that it just wasn’t feasible to do the work.
“The bushes and trees were overgrown. But that’s certainly not a criminal offense,” she says.
Last week, Judge Terry Vann handed down a five-day jail sentence to Holloway for refusing to comply with the city ordinances regarding yard maintenance, specifically the lack thereof. Holloway feels this was all just too much, saying, “It’s not right. Why would you put me in jail with child molesters and people who’ve done real crimes, because I haven’t maintained my yard.”
In addition to the severity of the sentencing, Holloway say she also feels that she was bullied during the process because she was never read her rights or told that she could have a lawyer present.
And you wonder why so many Americans feel the country is on the wrong track. As the Wall Street Journal noted yesterday:
The only time the public has felt worse was in October 2008, during the first, deep spasms of the recession. Then, 78% said the nation was on the wrong track, and only 12% felt good about the country’s direction. The last time “right direction” beat out “wrong track” was in January 2004 — and the last election cycle where that was the case was 2002.
For related storied about serfs being arrested for minor incidents, while the rich and powerful get away with enormous criminality, see:
Connecticut Man Arrested for “Passive Aggressive” Behavior to a Watermelon
New Jersey Threatens to Take 13-Year-Old Student From His Father Due to “Non-Conforming Behavior”
Hyper-Sensitive Illinois Mayor Orders Police Raid Over Parody Twitter Account
Charleston Man Receives $525 Federal Fine for Failing to Pay for a $0.89 Refill
The “War on Street Artists” – Puppeteer Unlawfully Arrested and Harassed in NYC Subway
Video of the Day – Thuggish Militarized Police Terrorize and SWAT Team Iowa Family
»
- 46386 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Blame the gays and furriners? Already in process.
FEUDALISM 2.0 "New & Improved".
While jail was extreme, poor is not an excuse for lazy. Notice she and the other cow seem to find time to eat
A little yard work or shingle hanging can do wonders for your figure.
If you want to get something done, have a little pride, and are respectful of your neighbors, you'll find time to not leave your home an eyesore
Her kids probably lay in the house in front of their Xbox all day
Take the kids and place them with Michelle Buchmann, mom is a bad role model and Buchmann seems to do good with foster kid.
Regardless, Is it her lawn or isn't it? What if she didn't want to cut it? What if her standards are different? How many inches can you legally let your grass grow? Are The yard Nazi police going to come andf measure it and when it's a 1 inche too hight through you in jail?
This goes to prove that there is no such thing as personal ownership of property. The local municipality owns your property not you!
"property" in amrka is rented and regulated by the State, all upkeep is the responsibility of the State to enforce, as it is an investment to be capitalised on. . .
get thee to the Home Improvement Store, shop for all the lawn mowers, leaf blowers, pesticides and insecticides, fencing, hoses, etc. that OWNERSHIP implies. . .
(aye, who owns who/what)
Oh, Oh, Oh, (raises hand) pick me!
DTCC & Cede & co?
Right, right, amI right?
grammar nazi moment (ApologiesInAdvance AIA); pests come in many forms including fungus (use a fungicide), "weeds" (lol) (use a herbicide), bugs (use an insecticide) so be sure to pick the correct pesticide for the job ; )
That insectidide decimated the coddling moths but I can't get rid of the other 90% (there, NotApplicable! lol)
--------
"I'm moving to Bohemia and taking you along. Say goodbye to Suburbia. You don't have to cut the lawn!"
Geddy Lee / My Favourite Headache / 2000(?), a solo project while RUSH was in limbo following the death of drummer Neil Peart's only child, teenage daughter Selena.
Doesn't the Land of the Free mean that people are entitled to live on their property the way they choose and you to live on yours the way you choose? Since when do you have the right to tell someone how to live their lives and legislate it?
What makes you a judge or superior?
If they aren't hurting anyone, let them be. Grass and weeds are natural, part of nature. If you want to cut yours, that is subjective thinking.
They may like their land natural, obviously you don't.
If she lived in a pigsty in a farm, yes, she can live like a pig. But she lives in what appears tp be a fairly dense neighborhood
It's not even a question of zoning. Look at the rest of the house. She obviously has an excuse to neglect everything.
It's 100% laziness and has nothing to do with being too busy.
She has time to hang dollar store crap all over the house
Should she let the dogs shit all over too? That's natural.
Perhaps she can shit on the lawn with the dogs. The govt can't tell her where to shit, can they?
With rights come responsibilities. In this case, the right to live on one's land as one chooses should not include the right to make life more dangerous for one's neighbors. Overgrown vegetation can harbor rats, racoons, snakes, etc. Failing to remove standing water can lead to mosquitos. None of these creatures know about or respect property boundaries. Much as I dislike government interference in private lives, a line has to be drawn somewhere. That's why we have government. At least we get to vote for it if we wish.
It would be wonderful if we had the right to do as we wished as long as we were considerate enough to not expose others to the consequences of our actions. This applies to all levels of government. I believe it was John Adams who said that the Constitution was intended for a religious and moral people and would not suffice for any other type of society. Well, in case you haven't noticed, America is at best amoral and trending toward the immoral at a rapid pace. Therefore we get more and more laws governing even the most minute of our actions. What's the alternative? Can we just go shoot people who won't let us live exactly as we wish?
Exactly. In two fucking hours I alone almost 50 years old could trim trees, clip the bushes, gather up the brush and undo two years of neglect. Some people are so damn lazy or just clueless regarding labor. Some neighbor should have stepped in and showed her how to do it, and just clean the place up in one afternoon. Where is community.
Someone needs to toss a cocktail onto the building and ping anyone who tries to end his or her shift early.
"It is the mission of the Lenoir City Police Department to provide law enforcement services with a commitment to preserve and protect the life and property of Lenoir City’s residents. We will recognize and uphold the constitutional rights of all persons as we enforce federal, state, and local laws; investigate crimes; and diligently work to prosecute these crimes in a fair and impartial manner. Further we will promote a positive image of our profession and make a positive contribution to the quality of life in our community. "
http://www.lenoircitygov.com/police.html
Judge Terry Vann is misguided, and needs moral instruction.
The courts and everyone involved with that racket believe they're doing a great job adding to the GDP. Prisons are for profit now, so the more people incarcerated the better the US looks on paper. Simple.
Is she hawt? I'll mow her carpet, er, grass any day.
I'd wait until her husband makes that appointment at the V.A. Hospital, at least you would know he will not be coming back.
wow
What a disgrace this once great land has become, that millions of illegal immigrants trample our laws and walk free, while a mother of (2) is incarcerated for not moving her lawn.
I'd really go off on a rant, but I'm saving my blood pressure for the main "bread & circuses" event.
Lock and load people. This kind of thing will not stop until we start eliminating those who are acting unconstitutionally. One by one, they have to go, until they fold and start following the Constitution.
buy ammo while you can
Say what you want about this case but with gloves on, a saw, some clippers, a residential lot can be cleaned up in one afternoon.
It isn't enought that you fuckers tax my time at work but now you want to tax my time out of work. I can see the fucking law now. Every citizen is required to spend one afternoon per week working on improving their yard.
Bollocks. Three hours twice a fucking year. Trim trees. Problem solved.
Gee, if she illegally invaded a soverign country which resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being killed and the civilian infrastructure devastated and non-functional or had stolen billions of dollars from investors, she would be able to walk down the street as free as can be...
... and then sit in a bathtub full of rose petals painting pictures of her toes. I wonder if Dubya painted his toenails pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. :-)
I guess the judge likes those lawns shaved.
Brazilian!
This is why it is so important to vote. If you look up Judge Terry Vann on the internet, you will find a number of other stories telling you why, if you lived in his district, you would want to vote him out of office, immediately if not sooner.
On work detail they should make her mow her lawn.
I mean where are all those great illegals to cut the lawn I thought its their specialty
Now you've got it. She is an economic terrorist refusing to aid the flow of money by hiring some illegals to maintain her lawn. She is like those traitors hiding money in their mattresses.
Nice fkn neighbors, guess nobody could find the time to ask the obvious question...... Hey Karen do you need a hand?
probably a neighbor that complained.
Yup "See Something, Say Something" all fine and dandy till they do it to you....
I'd upvote you +1000 if I could.
OBSERVATIONS: 1. In a modern, urban society, the level of Complexity of interaction increases exponentially. There is a fine balance between "personal rights" and "community rights", but the two are linked and ultimately the community decides what's "acceptable" and what is not.
2. By contrast, this is not the case in a Rural setting, where distances between neighbors are large (hundreds or thousands of feet), the links are few, and "eyesores" are kept at a distance.
COMMENT: By way of personal example... We chose to live in a "nice" area of a Metro area, where the Public schools are known to be truly excellent. And they are. Had it not been for our absolute requirement for a top-shelf education, I would have insisted on a home in the country. As it is, we opted for a place in a nice but affordable neighborhood, that did not have the quasi Nazi-like HOA rules and fees. The Prop Taxes are ~ 1.25% of FMV of property, but the annual School Tax is less the cost of having our 3 kids in private school for one month. It's the Fire Dept (and all its uber-fancy stations and space-tech gear) that's costing a lot in taxes, as are the various Bonds for the School, City and County (Debt!), which total ~ 22% of the Tax Bill. But the area is safe and clean, and the demographics is admittedly
rather... European looking. To us it's all about "Optimizing" between Needs (must have), Wants (would like to have), Choices and Affordability. And when the kids are out of the house, I plan to regain my Rural setting -- with a few acres, on which to play Gentleman/Hobby Farmer.
If they don't like her lawn, they're going to love my Liberty Pole and guillotine adorned yard.
An American, not US subject.
"Yes, I see. Sure, come over to inspect. And don't wear a tie, it clogs the machine."
I'd love to see a picture of your yard. You are giving me new landscaping ideas.
Well a big reason for things like this is how humans are dipshits and get all pissy at how their neighbours' yards look and how their community looks. If people just minded their own business and didn't get offended if someone has a messy yard then a lot of these moronic laws/rules wouldn't have ever been put in place.
I do think it is ridiculous someone went to jail over this even if there may be more to why she was given jail time instead of just a fine.
“It’s not right. Why would you put me in jail with child molesters and people who’ve done real crimes, because I haven’t maintained my yard.”
Because it's not your yard.
Brilliant..I think you just gave the thread one of those rare lucid moments! Thanx
You didn't build mow that.
There is nothing hotter than a chick pushing a lawn mower. Well, maybe a chick bringing me a samich and beer, but it's close.
Story doesn't surprise me. I live in PRK (People's Republic of Kalifornia) and until this year had a nice green front lawn. I get a letter from my water company telling me that because of the drought rates are going up. They were also kind enough to enclose a list of water conservation measures. One of these was to stop watering your lawn and get drought resistant landscaping. Since I couldn't afford to re-landscape my yard, I simply stopped watering the lawn and mowed the weeds every now and then. A few weeks ago I get a visit from some city code enforcement geek telling me that my property was not in compliance with city code and if I did not "remedy" the situation I would be issued a citation. I attempted to explain to him the drought situation, but he simply looked at me with a blank stare and issued me the warning notice.
Not sure what I'm going to do yet, because at this point it's about more than the money. Thought about hiring a lawyer and fighting this just on principle, but I'm not sure if I want to be Don Quixote and go "tilting at windmills."
Take a copy of the citation to your water company.
Dig hole. Bury inspector next time they show up.
Thanks Sane. Got a good chuckle out of that.
Ues. Shoot the messengers until the city stops sending them.
He's, after all, about 70% water and full of urea and fertilizers, trace elements, a worthwhile lawn enhancer.
THIS is what tyranny looks like!
trim your bushes, ladies!
The war on working people. Laws like this Boston snow removal law:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/snow/removal/snowremoval.asp
and yet, some one is shooting at .gov in canada????? fn americans are zombies.
a neighbor of mine liked the natural look. after a large tree in his yard fell on his house, he got his insurance check and left it sit. 3 years later the city finally removed it for him (with a lien) and razed the house. now it is a natural look empty lot. sometimes you have to compel lazy people to act. i can assure you 100% that it brings down the value and appeal of the neighborhood when people act like nothing but white trash and let their shit go south. maybe before you nutbags defend this woman you should try her out as your neighbor? i thought so...
This is Tennessee where if you are an airline pilot and kill your wife you get away with it but heaven forbid you can't get around to mowing your yard. Having lived among the fascists of that wonderful state I can assure you they may have immaculate lawns and gardens but if you go into their houses they are complete sh*tholes. Everything in that state is about external appearances. All their municipal laws are designed to keep control freak neighbours happy with reporting their neighbours for minor infractions.
"it just wasn’t feasible to do the work."
Mm hm. I bet she knows what's on TV.
Arrest and jail is way over the top. However, if you don't want to be a neighbor, don't live in a neighborhood.
Let's face it, the government is in control.
This lady was arrested for not cutting grass and the guy in the link below was arrested for mowing the grass. You can be arrested for either.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Ohio_man_arrested_for_cutting_grass_in_publi...
You coulda heard a pin drop when Jonny stopped and locked the door.
The overgrowth must have been blocking the local police peeping tom patrol.
Well it was a good thread. Now its turned into dogma shit.
She should have been cited for having a no-good husband and a pair of sorry kids that can't cut the grass.
I never figured out why people want to live somewhere where other people can tell you what to do with your own property.
In the "free" western world... Where?
Where I live (in the mountains) I don't even apply for a building permit. I just get a bigger breaker box and run power from the main house. If they discover the buildings they will just start charging me more property tax instead of tell me to tear them down. They would rather have the tax money.
And even in the mountains you cannot escape on what you can do on your property...
I live on a heavily wooded 6 acres and no one can see what I do. Been here 40 years and no problems. I love the mountains.
You don't own property unless you can prevent someone taking it away from you.
No one has tried yet, I'm ready.
She should just rent out Paul Mccartnys latest art and put it in her front yard. The tree thingy. After that nobody is gonna bitch about her lawn ever again.
Fuck PM after singing to Moo-schell at the white house...
I hate the Beatles, but like PM singing to the First Lady is such a big, fucking deal.
I can't believe a big chunk of this thread, on a theoretically libertarian site, regards the legitimacy of the government having a role in telling women they'll decide if they have to remain pregnant or not.
Take that shit over to The Blaze...
Obama’s counterrevolution against the Founding FathersDepends on when the woman becomes 2 feeling humans, not just one. First three months should be max for a woman to determine if she wishes to remain pregnant or not, after that, if she chooses not to, she's a murderer, and so is the Brennan Court.
ZH is dedicating too much screen space to ads lately. It makes it pretty much unreadable.
Gotta monetize, bra
If you like your ads, you can keep your ads.
https://adblockplus.org/ Give that a try.
So. If she decides not to go to jail for not mowing her lawn she is now resisting arrest and if she defends herself forcefully enough against the officer trying to put her in prison for not mowing her lawn she will be shot.
And you think you live in a free country. Lol.
You live in a country full of little Hitlers.
SAying "Ow" when having your face pushed into the pavement can be considered resisting arrest and justify an officers taking necessary actions to control and subdue. This may involve the fists and boots of other officers.
So if you don't pick up after your dog do they shoot you? I hope so, I hate dogs and their owners.
good grief.
Was there nothing the community could do for the unfortunate lady? Obviously the grass isn't the biggest problem in her life. Throw trillions at unicorns but the mother with issues is led to the slaughterhouse? Is this a ISIS TN chapter recruitment drive?
Don't worry, Hillary is on the way.
Israeli Billionaire Asks Clinton to Run for PresidencyIt gets worse.
---
L.A. Hotel to Host Anti-Israel Confab---
Obama admin withholding 2,100 US military torture photos
Top Senate Dem Calls for Buffer Zone and No-fly Zone in Syria{Levin - (D) - Israel}
U.S. Is Now Directly Arming The Islamic State To Push The Agenda Of Removing AssadKaren Holloway should have asked the rancher Mr Bundy(?) to graze his cattle on her front yard to keep the grass down. Or maybe there's another bureaucratic regulation in Tennessee that prohibts doing that.
This is the easiest way to understand this. Would you leave your new born baby with a lawyer that you don't really know? What about your savings? Would you leave your life savings, in cash, with a lawyer you don't really know? If you place your rights with a lawyer, regardless of weather you know him, you are saying yes to the above. People must know law to be free. Ignorance and freedom do not mix. There is something called applicability of law. All law is real, but if it is not applicable to you then it is irrelevant. The misapplication of law, and the failure to claim rights leads to injustice. If this happened to me, I would own everything everybody involved ever thought about owning. I wouldn't have to pay a lawyer a dime to do it.
Pro bono publico. Go help the nice lady in the Great State of Tennessee.
Show us your stuff!!
There would be a legal battle even to have a legal battle for me represent someone else. One thing about law everyone should know, is it is like watching paint dry. Slow as mollasses in the dead of winter. This is only because lawyers are paid by the hour. My guess for her to get justice, if she already knew the law, is 1-2 years.
Mow the damn lawn, lady, them's the rules. They don't apply to you because you're poor?
Owners make the rules for what they own. Save public health and the rights of others.
Actually "Bob" the rules apply to her because she is poor. Don't like her lawn? Go mow it for her....
Now I don't think we are aware of all the facts. The truth is , none of us wants to live next to an over run mess of a property that is in serious need of repairs. Most communities do have bylaws about keeping a property up to certain standards. That being said, throwing someone in jail and making this a criminal offense is in my opinion way over and above any civil penalties that might have been warranted.
There is no doubt that government overreach is out of control, on local, state, and federal levels. Remember, this is the same country that made it illegal to own gold, suspends habeous corpus when it feels like it, and has in many instances violated eminent domain rights of home owners. We can also look at the last few years as chilling erosion of our personal liberties whether it is the NSA, the IRS, and a plethora of civil rights losses.
All part of a plan to turn this country into a Marxist, statist controlled one IMO.
Welcome to the USSA!
The story says she was 'sentenced', my guess is she was ordered to jail. Mowing a lawn is specific performance, and a judge can only 'order' performance in a court of equity. The funny thing about courts of equity is the jurisdiction can always be challenged. Equity requires a trust relationship, and the fiduciary of that trust owes a fiduciry duty to the beneficiary, and when he or she fails in that duty there is hell to pay. But this case has it backwards. The lady is the beneficiary of the public trust, and the officials, including the judge are the fiduciaries. They have turned the equity court on its head, and all she needs to do is challenge jurisdiction. Once challenged, jurisdiction MUST be on the record. Without jurisdiction all envolved are liable. Even the judge has lost his immunity. Judicial actions ALWAYS requires jurisdiction. Otherwise it is only abuse of power.
if they would have militarized the city works employees like they have militarized the USDA this would have never happened. that woman would be dead full of lead for her crime and we wouldn't have to be paying for her to be in jail.
snarky sarc
The other question that should be asked is who owns the house? The bank? I read a lot of the comments and didn't see anyone ask that question. If she and/or her husband actually own the house wouldn't it be in their best interest to do at least a modicum of maintenence because, after all, they live there? We are missing a lot of facts here. It could be that it is about time to put a candle too near a curtain and leave the window open for a nice light breeze.
Abortion sure pushed the red button here. imho it is murder. Nothing less.I offer no solution for the unwanted throwaway babies.
Going to the gray bar hotel for tall grass does seem a bit insane. 1st thing back from the pokey I would be out there dousing everything with RoundUp. You don't like tall green stuff, how about dead toxic dirt for your property values bitches! Or, concrete over it and paint it green. I have seen this done in Tucson.
If she was a lesbian feminist, she would be encouraged to grow her lawn to play ball.
I don't have a lawn. I wonder if they can put me in jail for not mowing my dirt.
Zoning and local codes are supposed to protect you from an unreasonable neighbor, where everyone lives relatively close together, the idea makes sense to me as they offer a level playing field , standard set of rules that the community agree's to and is not overly cumbersome or restrictive . That being said , it is perhaps one of the most abused aspects of law, in practice .
Mow judge and city council.
Those who hate plants can just leave this Planet. They will feel happy, slick and clean as a sheet of plastified naught on the Moon. Or Mars.
The constant puerile raving against boring, unimportant shit like code enforcement is yet another reason that no adult can take (American) liberarianism seriously. You are all, seriously, a bunch of teenagers.
Librarianism?
Land of the free. And to think that a tiny tax levied on a brewed beverage moved good men to ransack the king's ship.
Where are all the good men today?
Good men who are smart already left the country. At least that's what's currently going on all over Europe.
Good men who are smart already left the country. At least that's what's currently going on all over Europe.
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2013/11/chinese-offenses.html
". Digestive or palate-cleansing snacks such as red bean soup or small watermelon slices remain more common at formal Chinese dinners, "
Big slices arec Bad manners in China . So lock them up .
PS : who got to eat the watermelon ? It has rights , you know .
......she also feels that she was bullied during the process because she was never read her rights or told that she could have a lawyer present.
Because....she is too stupid to know her rights......that is why she has to be "told" to mow her lawn.
Stupid.
OK, back on topic...........had a city councilman in Beloit, KS tell the local police chief to harrase a home owner because he had three cars and 2 trailers parked in his yard. When told that the cars and trailers had current tags and was on his property he wanted the planning commission to write an ordinace against having vehicles parked in his yard. His reason: "he didnt like the way it looked." Guess he thinks he is the new beauty czar and it is good to be king.
Poor guy he is going after has complied with every ordinance they have thrown at him but that is not good enough for this city councilman.
I heard that there was a past legal precedent set, by which one could refuse to mow their lawn, on the grounds that they have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech, if they consider their long grass to be a visual protest of mankinds encroachment upon the environment.
We only have to ask who owns the property and who has legal title?
I hate chicks that don't mow their lawn (spits)...
An anonymous letter from "neighbors" found in my mailbox accused me of not mowing my lawn or removing dry leaves. Its tone was rather vituperative. Standing in the middle of the (residential) street I proceeded to rip up the letter and let the wind take the shreds into THEIR lawns.
Add littering to the charges, your Honor.