Posted on 07/15/2011 8:59:04 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
Contrary to recent media reports, the malicious prosecution of Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan has not ended. Authorities have also charged her with having unlicensed dogs, though they never escaped or threatened anyone. Heres the unedited scoop straight from her own blog, Oak Park Hates Veggies:
Home-grown: Julie Bass has fallen foul of local authorities by growing vegetables in her front yardHome-grown: Julie Bass has fallen foul of local authorities by growing vegetables in her front yard
1- the charges against us were not actually dropped. they were dismissed by some judge we have never heard of or seen. we hope this person is a real judge, and had the real authority to dismiss our case, but we are going to double-check on that today
2- the dismissal without prejudice means that the prosecutor can come back at any time and reinstate the garden charge as well (he has already reinstated the dog license charge, but i will get to that in a minute). there has been no final disposition of the case, so we cant take a deep breath and relax.
3- the prosecutor wants more time to review the ordinance. not that he has given up on the garden charge. to the contrary, he wants more time to look things over. i think usually the prosecutor in normal cases would ask the judge for a continuance or an adjournment or something. why they handled it this way is a suspicious mystery
4- we still have our same court date- july 26th. we still have to appear for a pre-trial, only this time it will be for 2 misdemeanors (the dogs), instead of 1 misdemeanor for the garden.
5- when we got the citation for the dog licenses we cleared it up right away. we went in that friday, only to find that our government is closed on friday due to budget cuts (!). we went back as soon as we were able the following week and took care of it. we paid the license fees. we paid late fees. we got proof from them that the dogs were current and paid up, and we took this proof to court and we showed it to the prosecutor.
6- our current and valid dog licenses were shown on at least on TV news program, and im sure were re-broadcast many times over. there is no controversy about whether or not our dogs are licensed. they werent current and now they are. thats it.
7- i cant think of anything else to clarify, but please keep the word out there that we are not off the hook. a lot of places have been printing and posting charges were dropped!- but thats only part of the story, and gives the incorrect impression that we have won. thats not true, and i really worry that if the focus goes away, they will renew their prosecution/persecution of us. please take it upon yourself to correct errors in other places and to spread the truth.
My advice to Julie Bass, move to a community who appreciates good gardeners and loves pets. It is not Oak Park, Michigan.
“Internet Buzz: Concept of Jail Time for Growing a Vegetable Garden “
This is where the video is.
She pleads at the end of the article for people to continue to get the word out. I think she has learned a big lesson about the power of the government to interfere in her life. I feel badly for the woman.
OK the local government reaction is extreme but I saw the photo of this lady’s yard on another article and the vegetable plots do nothing to improve an already dumpy looking house, seriously would you want someone growing a vegetable garden in their front yard on your street? What’s next chickens?
This is better than her getting food stamps, more attractive than piles of deteriorating play equipment in the front yard or old cars left out. On the scheme of things, it is very wrong for her to be punished for a garden in the front when there are so many not willing or able to maintain their property.
And I grew up next to several people with gardens in the FRONT, including a tulip grower.
I have no problem with either.
In fact my neighbor did keep chickens for a while. He is a great mechanic, good neighbor and county commissioner.
And there are no local ordinances about either.
I have blueberry, strawberry, blackberry plants and plum and fig bushes in my back yard and flower beds. The majority of my garden is on another lot and at our farm.
Here in the middle of “The Big Nothing” in central Texas you can do about whatever you want as long as you are a good neighbor about it.
Free men need not ask permission!
Note my tag line.
I could never live in a mess like Oak Park or Detroit.
They would do far worse to me than they are doing to her.
That is why I am so comfortable here in Texas. We do not need all those “rules”. And it is clear that the ones they are applying to her are “arbitrary”. It is about punishing not about the law.
The weenee little “Planner” does not see that he is largely useless. But he is “in charge”. He would not last long around here.
The municipal there may be trying to get her busy and stressed enough to keep her from suing, which she has already signaled. As for pets, many people in most locales are regarding them in a somewhat worshipful way, as though they are more human than humans. But gardening, no. Most are against gardening, because they’re lazy, vain, wouldn’t do it themselves, and are simply against their neighbors doing or having anything.
People are getting more weird and illogical every year now. Maybe the default ahead is what our nation needs to get it back in shape.
What part of "it's HER HOUSE" don't you understand, comrade?
Does a person have to live far out in the country to even begin to be free? In a city they have cameras everywhere, police everywhere and a few thousand rules about how to do every little thing.
I wonder if they’ll send the SWAT team in to take her and her garden down?
Some whiny tight butt definitely has some agenda against her. Next they’ll complain about what color her living room curtains are. Good luck to her.
I have a garden, two front yards and no back yard (or maybe it’s two back yards and no front yard). What to do, what to do.
Yep. Total detachment from reality. The more connected to nature that a people are the more sane they are.
LOL...never been to Louisiana, have you?
Probably not, but it works for me. My family has lived in this county since 1889. I was away for about 25 years but have been back for 15. It is still home. And the last time I looked, in spite of Obozo, This Is Still Texas.
FUBO!
My I love Cajun Food. Some of it starts with chicken.
I even like the accents in Louisiana. hee hee hee
Hey! I have a mixed vegatable/flower garden in my front yard!
I was born in Wayne County, not far from Detroit. I grew up in a rural village about an hour away from Detroit. It was a really desirable area to live in at the time. I lived there until after high school.
Michigan is in a sad state.
It has beautiful landscape. The Great Lakes are a national treasure. I loved the seasons. It was great being so close to Canada. There are some special things about Michigan that make it like no other state, and I have fond memories of my youth there.
But, wild horses couldn’t drag me back there to raise my own children.
I have two brothers that live there, way, way out in the county. I think they would bolt, if they had the opportunity to do so.
I have lived in TX, NM and OK. Loved things about all of them. I traveled 11 states at a point in time. Texas will always be home.
But I had some ancestors that were born in TX during the Republic of Texas.
We will outlast the O bastard.
Free men need not ask permission!
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