Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
This happens in America. Let that soak in.
Chip and Amalia Romary were pulled over in their vehicle in Palmdale. The man he thought was a traffic cop issued him a curious ticket, Chip Romary says: A citation for illegal land use. "I received a traffic ticket for illegal land use. Illegal land use. A traffic ticket."
Their story helped fuel a growing fear that the county government is tracking people using inordinate resources and invasive techniques. "I bought a piece of property, 6 and a half acres," Romary says of the land under contention, "a wonderful piece of property. It was my life. It was everything that I wanted. It had a foundation, had water, had septic. I inherited a mobile home from my grandparents" in which he and Amalia lived.
"I showed up in court not knowing what this was all about, and they said, 'You are illegally living on your land.' Now, how that's possible, I don't know."
Romary focuses much of his wrath on prosecutor Campbell, whom he blames for his four-day stint in jail. "My life is now a nightmare," he says. "The courthouse is so corrupt, it's like a mob."
And this is just one of dozens of stories like it included in the LA Weekly exposé, linked above, about the mafia-like tactics employed by LA County against hillbilly landowners living in the high desert. As Dave Carter put it in his beautiful post yesterday commemorating Independence Day, "So what is this “independence” we celebrate?"
(h/t Tim Cavanaugh at Reason's Hit & Run)
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May '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
I give up. There is nothing that can be done. Our freedom and liberties are going to wash away faster and fast. No matter how we vote, it does not seem to make a difference.
I wish my children could inherit the nation I did, but they will not get too.
Too much to be mad about. Too much to feel helpless about.
Anyone want to tell me I am wrong?
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Bryan G. Stephens:
Too much to be mad about. Too much to feel helpless about.
Anyone want to tell me I am wrong? · Jul 5 at 3:00pm
Yikes, I feel guilty that my post has sent you into such a depressed state. To help mitigate that, I present to you this link--courtesy of Member Misthiocracy--on 7 Pieces of good News Nobody is Reporting.
Aug '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Bryan G. Stephens: I give up. There is nothing that can be done. Our freedom and liberties are going to wash away faster and fast. No matter how we vote, it does not seem to make a difference.
I wish my children could inherit the nation I did, but they will not get too.
Too much to be mad about. Too much to feel helpless about.
Anyone want to tell me I am wrong? · Jul 5 at 3:00pm
Well, this may be pretty thin gruel, but I note that nearly every "nanny state" article that's been posted on Ricochet recently have all reported on events which took place in California, Oregon, or Washington.
So, following from this (exceedingly weak and totally anecdotal) evidence, you can cheer yourself up by reminding yourself that you do not live on the West Coast.
Unless, of course, you do live on the West Coast, in which case I gots nuthin' for ya'.
Jun '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
This reminded me of a story I read in the Sacramento Bee about when you may water your own lawn on your own property:
• Odd-numbered addresses may water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
• Even-numbered addresses may water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
• Monday is a hydration vacation for everyone.
• Only low-volume drip irrigation is permitted between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• When daylight saving time ends in November, ushering in the wet season, watering is limited to one day per weekend.
• Overwatering is punishable at any time with a $25 fine.
They've also signed up 33 "water conservation ambassadors" to go door-to-door explaining the rules because "Having your neighbor remind you about the watering rules feels less confrontational than having a city official at your doorstep."
May '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Paging Ms. Berlinski for comment on this item vis a vis Dave Carter's discussion of independence and her subsequent response.
No, it's not as bad as Dave implied, neither is it as sanguine as Claire implied.
I am reminded of Orwell in 1984 where, somewhere in the text, is a quote something to the effect that "the proles could have had religion if they wanted it"
We are allowed to have whatever we want, as long as we do not threaten the ruling elites, or their revenue stream. Doubtless enough money could make Romary's problem go away somehow or another.
Aug '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
This happens in California. The distinction, unfortunately, is becoming more relevant each day.
May '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
I live in Georgia, which just ramped up its child seat laws to 8 years of age, with point on your DL if you violate it. As if it makes me a worse driver that I might put my 6 year old in the back seat in a seatbelt that works fine for her.
My mother in law, who is 5'8" only would not fall afoul of this law because it exempts those over the age of 8.
I agree, I am not in LA county, but if they can do it there, then can do it here.
Jun '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
8? Seriously? Aren't kids too big to fit in child seats by 8? They must make larger sizes these days than the ones I remember, I thought they were for toddlers...
Mar '11
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Diane, there are valid issues of libertarianism versus social conservatism to discuss here, but they deserve more balanced treatment than that provided by the tendentious article from the LA Weekly to which you linked.
May '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Well a booster sheet. But yes. Until 8 or 4'9".
Joseph Stanko
8? Seriously? Aren't kids too big to fit in child seats by 8? They must make larger sizes these days than the ones I remember, I thought they were for toddlers... · Jul 5 at 5:21pm
May '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
I am not sure how this is tendentious. People bothering no one find armed agents on their land telling them to tear down their house because it does not meet a code written after the house was built.
Now, please give us the balance to that.
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
So people living out in the middle of nowhere, minding their own business, on their own property are the subject of armed raids from something called a Nuisance Abatement Team? The irony is rich since the real nuisances are the guys pointing guns at the property owners. The answer, I respectfully submit is not to despair, but rather to fight. Legally. Know who is running for judge, for city council, etc. Get involved in campaigns you believe in. Contact officials. Run for office yourself if you're so inclined. Write letters. Talk to friends and family. Do everything you can think of within the law, but keep fighting. Our armed forces go through a hell of a lot worse for us. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to keep fighting. Free people never throw in the towel, period.
Edited on Jul 5, 2011 at 6:40pmDec '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
This only happens in California.
Around here, it would have happened exactly one time.
Then, as word spread, the next batch of folks would have just gone missing.
But there again, our cops know better.
Hell, they're even polite when they're searching for meth labs.
The only place you run into this mindset is with the petite Napoleons in the building code offices of fairly big cities (the likes of which MO only a few of).
There is nothing more tyrannical than a pencilneck with a little power.
Edited on Jul 5, 2011 at 6:43pmRe: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
"There is nothing more tyrannical than a pencilneck with a little power." That sentence should be etched in stone.
Jul '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Diane, thanks for linking that interesting, and lengthy (no clue if it's tendentious as I've never read LA Weekly) piece. I'm unclear on something though.
How many of these folks own "their land?" It explicitly stated that the Romary's do, but it wasn't clear (to me at least) if some or most of the others were squatters.
Did I just miss something?
I'm not too happy about armed Nuisance Abatement Teams either way, but it seems markedly more invasive if it's routinely targeting property owners.
Jul '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
When I was young, my family acquired some land in rural Virginia with the intention of building a vacation home there. The development ran afoul of the county, destroying the value of the property, and my family held onto the land for over 20 years hoping to recoup the loss, while paying that same county property taxes in the interim.
Counties are the real seat of tyranny in our system, the abuses are casual and petty and expensive to arbitrate. Counties are also the front line of order, when there is any.
Some of my relations lived in Los Angeles County at one point, and voted with their feet. It is often cheaper to move to saner climes than to stare down a county building full of tin Hitlers persecuting you on your own dime.
Sep '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Never give up, never surrender. Yeah, it may be the motto of Galaxy Quest, but it's still true.
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Palaeologus: Diane, thanks for linking that interesting, and lengthy (no clue if it's tendentious as I've never read LA Weekly) piece. I'm unclear on something though.
How many of these folks own "their land?" It explicitly stated that the Romary's do, but it wasn't clear (to me at least) if some or most of the others were squatters.
Did I just miss something?
I'm not too happy about armed Nuisance Abatement Teams either way, but it seems markedly more invasive if it's routinely targeting property owners. · Jul 5 at 7:02pm
My understanding of the piece was that all of the folks interviewed owned their land, but were found to be using their land illegally. In some instances, this was because the house wasn't built to code, or in others it was built to code, but to 1984 code, and not 2006 code. In some cases, NAT gets sent out if there's too much trash on the land. In others, if the land is in a zone where it's supposed to be vacant, but the owner has their trailer on it.
Nov '10
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Joseph Stanko:
They've also signed up 33 "water conservation ambassadors" to go door-to-door explaining the rules because "Having your neighbor remind you about the watering rules feels less confrontational than having a city official at your doorstep." · Jul 5 at 3:46pm
Quislings! Judas bulls!
Mar '11
Re: Tear Down This Wall, Or Go to Jail!
Bryan G. Stephens: I am not sure how this is tendentious. People bothering no one find armed agents on their land telling them to tear down their house because it does not meet a code written after the house was built.
Now, please give us the balance to that. · Jul 5 at 6:04pm
Well, what I had in mind was, for example, some description of the interactions with authorities that occurred before the armed agents showed up. Now perhaps there were none, but I suspect otherwise.