Each and every time a government entity is incapable of producing its rules and regulations upon demand, there is an inescapable measure of foolishness attached to such a judgment. Such an interpretation made by myself will always remain within a line of questioning that stems from a direction of “What if Justice can be quickly and justly determined, with and/or without the aid of a courtroom?”
With well over a million PhD’s roaming this country and countless others who hold Masters and Bachelors Degrees existing amongst those who never learned to read – and everything in between, it is reasonable to realize that everyone carries their own interpretation of the word “Justice,” let alone the word “Law.”
So when I read headlines talking about one locality looking to kick out homeowners who cannot resolve a property line dispute, I am reminded of how many squabbles I’ve noticed over the years over everything from local noise ordinances all the way to some municipalities having ordinances authorizing the local government to evict a renter based on arrest rather than conviction.
What a peaceful option for government officials to not only shut down someone opposed to some aspect of local government, but deliver perhaps the most powerful punishment available for the circumstance…the immediate loss of housing if the person is a renter of property in the community with the laws – even if the arrest happens in another jurisdiction!
“Local resident arrested on felony charges for attempting to video tape a municipal board meeting” is a headline I was once invited to create, but I instead chose to create The Law Book List along with pursuit of clearly posted rules regarding the taping of a municipal board meeting. The results of that particular pursuit are floating around somewhere on the Internet, so if you find yourself confused but curious about this particular source of inspiration for The 2012 Illinois Municipal Code Book Index, I think the major indexes still have content relating to the original Law Book List, but that topic is for another time and place.
The perils of pursuing documentation believed to be of critical nature to the Public Forum are already fraught with a variety of barriers, such as language and culture. To deny the public easy and simple viewing of local laws seems far more foolish than having someone decide they don’t want to build anything in the municipality simply because they couldn’t review the building codes first…business owners not wanting to rent a store front because they cannot review the rules and regulations that would be governing their owner/operator status…
Click here to read Part II
Click here to read Part IV
