Free Republic

A bill that bans arrests for “loitering with the intent of prostitution” was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom during the weekend, formally ending the long-standing practice to crackdown on prostitution in cities across the state.

The Seattle City Council unanimously voted Monday to ditch an ordinance allowing police officers to arrest loiterers if they’re suspected of drug dealing or prostitution, citing its racial origins. The rejection of the loitering bill, which reportedly affected black communities at a higher rate, has moved to Democratic Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s desk for final approval before the law is no more. The law has been used to arrest about 300 suspected criminals since 2009, according to The Seattle Times. “These laws were never appropriate, they were wrong when they were enacted and they are wrong now,” said Councilman Andrew...

On January 1, 2014, Colorado legalized the medical and recreational use of Marijuana. They claimed that it would add millions of dollars to the state’s revenue via state taxes which includes a 2.9% sales tax, 10% special sales tax and 15% excise tax, meaning the state would collect $27.90 for every $100 of recreational marijuana sold in the Rocky Mountain state. In April 2014, 19 year old foreign exchange student Levy Thamba plunged off a hotel balcony and died after eating legally purchased marijuana laced cookies. After eating just one cookie, Thamba became agitated and ran out onto the balcony...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A bill that has already passed the Maryland House of Delegates would fine drivers up to $250 for lingering in the left lane of a highway after passing another vehicle.House Bill 1451 was sponsored by Frederick County Republican Delegate William G. Folden and is now pending in the Senate.Folden says the aim of the bill is to prevent traffic congestion.When it passed in the House last week, he posted the following statement on his Facebook page: “By the slimmest of margins and probably the most bi-partisan voting sheet I’ve seen, my bill for “Left Lane Passing Only”...

Shortly after New Year’s Day, Man Hyung Lee, 77, was nursing a coffee in his usual seat in a narrow booth at a McDonald’s in Flushing, Queens, when two police officers stepped into the fluorescent light of the restaurant. Mr. Lee said the officers had been called because he and his friends — a revolving group who shuffle into the McDonald’s on the corner of Parsons and Northern Boulevards on walkers, or with canes, in wheelchairs or with infirm steps, as early as 5 a.m. and often linger until well after dark — had, as they seem to do every...

A McDonald's outlet in Australia has begun playing classical musical and opera late at night to deter young people from loitering around the restaurant. Fed up with their outlet's nocturnal transformation into an unofficial youth club, the store adopted the tactic a few weeks ago and says it has significantly reduced the number of loiterers, particularly around the car park. The strategy has reportedly been tried before by a local council at a car park in Australia, though previous efforts involved blaring songs by Barry Manilow. Matthew Watson, the operations manager at the Mt Annan McDonald's on the outskirts of...

<p>A Connecticut man attacked a local Dunkin Donuts with an ax after he was kicked out by employees, police say.</p>

Classical music still effective at dispersing loitering teens April 4, 2011 | 9:00am With all sorts of the funding cuts hitting orchestras during the recent recession, there is still one aspect of classical music that local governments find valuable -- the music's unfailing ability to disperse loitering teenagers from public areas. Whether its Handel piped into New York's Port Authority or Tchaikovsky at a public library in London, the sound of classical music is apparently so repellent to teenagers that it sends them scurrying away like frightened mice. Private institutions also find it useful: chains such as McDonald's and 7-Eleven,...

The Maryland Transit Administration has eliminated the No. 8 bus stop in Towson on Chesapeake Avenue at its intersection with York Road. This is good news for nearby businesses that complained about excessive loitering and trash around the stop. But it is bad news for the general manager of Towson Commons, who is complaining about excessive loitering and trash now that the No. 8 bus stop has been moved to the front of his building at the corner of York Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. And that's not the half of it, said Harvey Brooks, who oversees the complex of restaurants,...

Nashville could save thousands of dollars by providing more affordable housing and tackling the issue of homelessness in a more efficient manner instead of looking into increasing law enforcement, local homeless service providers say. The Homeless Power Project, a non-profit group consisting of homeless and formerly homeless local people, urged Councilman Ludye Wallace to withdraw two ordinances at tonight’s council meeting, which would make it illegal for people to sleep in a car or enter an abandoned motor vehicle to sleep, rest or inhabit. “Prohibiting and charging individuals and families for staying in the only shelter they have will only...

We are the compassionate city. We are a city of refuge to illegal aliens; we love 'em all. Pot smokers make us their home. We won't cooperate with the feds on terrorism investigations. And we let homeless die on the street like dogs. We are a fun-loving city. We associate the cause of homelessness with some trauma such as a loss of a job or an eviction that led a person to live in on the street. This allows us to give the homeless the patina of a certified "victim" group. The reality is quite different. The typical homeless person...