Judge sides with potty planter fan

Northwest Herald.com ^ | December 17, 2010 | SARAH SUTSCHEK

[KeyLargo]

Judge sides with potty planter fan

By SARAH SUTSCHEK - ssutschek@nwherald.com

WOODSTOCK – A Lakemoor woman's toilets will be filled with hostas and lilies again this summer as she successfully challenged a village ordinance in court.

Tina Asmus was fined $25 in June 2009 after police said she violated Lakemoor's public nuisance ordinance by using two toilets and a sink as flower planters outside her home. One of the toilets also had "God bless my neighbors" written on it, as well as a smiley face.

She said the toilets now have poinsettias in them.

While McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell said today that the planters were "not something that appeal" to him, he cited his decades of experience as a village attorney to say the ordinance was not designed to apply in instances like this. Instead, it was meant to stop old, nonfunctional cars from sitting in driveways and prohibit unauthorized scrap metal recycling yards.

"It isn't necessarily aimed at Tina Asmus and her plumbing fixtures," Caldwell said.

Asmus' attorney, George Kililis, had argued that the gardening arrangement was creative expression and that it was protected under her First Amendment rights. It was neither a threat to safety nor gravely offensive, he said.

"It may be that some of [her neighbors] don't like it," Kililis said. "But frankly, that's their problem."

He said it was never about the money, although Asmus could have faced daily fines.

"I feel like they have given my freedom back," Asmus said.

[KeyLargo]

The Lakemoor front yard of Tina Asmus in June 2009

[Waverunner]

It’s Artistic expression.... Wins in court just about every time.

[Pontiac]

"I feel like they have given my freedom back," Asmus said.

Don’t go jumping to unfounded conclusions there Missus.

You merely dodged a bullet.

The fact that you had to obtain an attorney and show up in court to defend yourself against charges of violating a law that is a clear violation of freedom in the first place is clear evidence that you are not free.

[IYAS9YAS]

Looks better than the rotting vehicle hulks of my neighbors.

[triumphant values]

Tacky people lead to bad laws.

[Vigilanteman]

Looks like a nice, well-kept yard to me.

Sure, the toilet planters are a little "different" but, then again, so is the Gasden Flag hanging on the front of my home.

Ceramic planters cost a lot of money and plastic ones do not wear well. An old toilet gives you the advantages of both.

[Valpal1]

The cutest artistic expression I ever saw was a wrought iron bed frame used to box in a raised flower bed.

A gardener’s pun.

[fungoking]

WOW! Memory lane. I really loved my Aunt Faye (God Bless her soul) but she was “white trash” to the core; and I mean that in the best possible way, she ended up in the local paper twice holding up stuff she had shot (bobcat and a big rattlesnake). To her the top of the culinary arts was “shake and bake”, she was large and loud with an opinion on everything. She could really cuss, which to a sheltered preacher's kid was something to see an adult do. In front of her trailer where other people might have a hedge was a row of toilets that she used has planters; her “pee row” as she called it. I always thought it was her comment on life; “bloom where you are planted, even if it is a crappy place”.

[meatloaf]

We need more women like her ... especially in Congress.

[WVNan]

Well, here in WV we are a bit "higher" class with our artistic expressions.

[TexasRepublic]

Nicely done.

[Pollster1]

1. That’s odd looking.

2. It is tacky.

3. It’s her property, so #1 and #2 don’t matter. [Any bathroom humor is unintended]

4. I’d probably like her both as a person and as a neighbor a whole lot more than I’d like the busybody neighbors who insisted upon pressing charges.

[a fool in paradise]

Tina Asmus was fined $25 in June 2009 after police said she violated Lakemoor's public nuisance ordinance by using two toilets and a sink as flower planters outside her home. One of the toilets also had "God bless my neighbors" written on it, as well as a smiley face.

NOT A PING

[a fool in paradise]

It’s Artistic expression.... Wins in court just about every time.

Try putting a koran in there instead of "greetings to the neighbors". Obambi and the Hate Department will come down on you.

[a fool in paradise]

she ended up in the local paper twice holding up stuff she had shot (bobcat and a big rattlesnake

How big?

[KeyLargo]

[SunkenCiv]

I’m not gonna *ask* where they go to the bathroom.

[TheOldLady]

If I were going to use toilets for planters, I would have put them in the back yard, but to each his own.

[a fool in paradise]

I’m not gonna *ask* where they go to the bathroom.

Too late...

[Daffynition]

That's too beautiful!