4 ms·
I don't really agree that 1-3 are on point. The quote from the judge in 3 makes it clear that the woman in question was never charged with a criminal offense,
by sithadmin 5y ago
I don't really agree that 1-3 are on point.
The quote from the judge in 3 makes it clear that the woman in question was never charged with a criminal offense, and in fact chose to sit in a jail for 6 hours in lieu of paying a civil fine.
As for the other two cases - the issues started with the lawn upkeep, yes, but the criminal aspect slips in for unrelated reasons. In #1, it's not clear exactly why contempt charges came into play, and it's quite unusual (and in many jurisdictions, not legal) to charge someone with criminal contempt for simple refusal to pay a civil fine...which leads me to believe there's something key being omitted here. In #2, it seems like the guy would have been fine keeping an unkempt lawn had he not explicitly violated a previous probation agreement; this isn't a situation that applies to the average person.
- Zak 5y agoWhen an individual steadfastly refuses to do something the government demands, one of two things happens: 1. A rich, or legally crafty individual can get a court to invalidate the demand, or tie up the issue in legal process for years or indefinitely. 2. The government will escalate until the individual is in jail. Jail isn't the first step in the enforcement process, but it's on the list, and fair to say that people were jailed because they didn't maintain their lawns to government standards following other enforcement efforts.