Thursday, June 10, 2010

Unwelcoming predators

Many cities charge you $25-$100 to get a "city sticker" which normally allows you to access to parking somewhere on public roads, or access to a special city resource.   Many people ignore them because they only park on their own property, or at their place of work in a different city.   Some people buy them because they believe they have to, but do not affix them to their vehicle because they never plan on using the services awarded by such sticker display.

Enter the predator:

The local code enforcement thug comes down the street, wearing body armor and carrying weapons.  Carrying a weapon down the street is not legal for normal citizens, and the penalty gets increased if body armor is worn in conjunction with carrying a weapon.  We already see special protections awarded by the law to the code enforcement thug based solely upon his or her occupation.  They exercise their special rights while trespassing on private property to issue $75 citations to people who had the nerve to park their cars on their own driveways.  They walk up the driveway to check for a sticker that isn't clearly visible from the road, then issue a fine in the form of a ticket.   There are murmurs here and there that people are getting fed up with this.

Illinois defines these code enforcement thugs as having "lawful authority" so they can do whatever they please as illustrated in the trespassing law.

(720 ILCS 5/21‑3) (from Ch. 38, par. 21‑3)
    Sec. 21‑3. Criminal trespass to real property.
    (a) Except as provided in subsection (a‑5), whoever:
        (1) knowingly and without lawful authority enters or
        
remains within or on a building; or
        (2) enters upon the land of another, after receiving,
        
prior to such entry, notice from the owner or occupant that such entry is forbidden; or
        (3) remains upon the land of another, after receiving
        
notice from the owner or occupant to depart; or
        (3.5) presents false documents or falsely represents
        
his or her identity orally to the owner or occupant of a building or land in order to obtain permission from the owner or occupant to enter or remain in the building or on the land;
commits a Class B misdemeanor.

So apparently every citizen of every Illinois town has to post a sign on their lawn that states "No Trespassing by Law Enforcement except in emergency" in order to keep these thugs from ticketing you on your own property.

No comments:

Post a Comment