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Judge sides with potty planter fan
Northwest Herald.com ^
| December 17, 2010
| SARAH SUTSCHEK
Posted on 12/17/2010 8:04:31 AM PST by 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.
TOPICS: Agriculture; Gardening; Hobbies; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: illinois; planters; toliets; yard
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The Lakemoor front yard of Tina Asmus in June 2009
1
posted on
12/17/2010 8:04:36 AM PST
by
KeyLargo
To: KeyLargo
It’s Artistic expression.... Wins in court just about every time.
2
posted on
12/17/2010 8:10:25 AM PST
by
Waverunner
(I'd like to welcome our new overlords, say hello to my little friend)
To: KeyLargo
"I feel like they have given my freedom back," Asmus said. Dont 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.
3
posted on
12/17/2010 8:11:31 AM PST
by
Pontiac
To: KeyLargo
Looks better than the rotting vehicle hulks of my neighbors.
4
posted on
12/17/2010 8:12:01 AM PST
by
IYAS9YAS
(Liberalism can be summed up thusly: someone craps their pants and we all have to wear diapers)
To: KeyLargo
Tacky people lead to bad laws.
5
posted on
12/17/2010 8:12:33 AM PST
by
triumphant values
(Never criticize that to your right.)
To: KeyLargo
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.
6
posted on
12/17/2010 8:19:02 AM PST
by
Vigilanteman
(Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
To: Waverunner
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.
7
posted on
12/17/2010 8:23:50 AM PST
by
Valpal1
("All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.")
To: KeyLargo
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”.
8
posted on
12/17/2010 8:34:27 AM PST
by
fungoking
(Tis a blessing to live in the Ozarks.)
To: fungoking
We need more women like her ... especially in Congress.
9
posted on
12/17/2010 9:03:02 AM PST
by
meatloaf
To: fungoking
Well, here in WV we are a bit "higher" class with our artistic expressions.
10
posted on
12/17/2010 9:19:11 AM PST
by
WVNan
To: KeyLargo
11
posted on
12/17/2010 9:24:32 AM PST
by
TexasRepublic
(Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
To: KeyLargo
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.
12
posted on
12/17/2010 9:44:59 AM PST
by
Pollster1
(Natural born citizen of the USA, with the birth certificate to prove it)
To: Slings and Arrows
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
13
posted on
12/17/2010 12:40:33 PM PST
by
a fool in paradise
(The establishment clause isn't just against my OWN government establishing state religion in America)
To: Waverunner
Its 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.
14
posted on
12/17/2010 12:41:29 PM PST
by
a fool in paradise
(The establishment clause isn't just against my OWN government establishing state religion in America)
To: fungoking
she ended up in the local paper twice holding up stuff she had shot (bobcat and a big rattlesnake How big?
15
posted on
12/17/2010 12:44:21 PM PST
by
a fool in paradise
(The establishment clause isn't just against my OWN government establishing state religion in America)
To: a fool in paradise
16
posted on
12/17/2010 4:10:55 PM PST
by
KeyLargo
To: AdmSmith; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; bigheadfred; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; Delacon; ...
I’m not gonna *ask* where they go to the bathroom.
17
posted on
12/17/2010 8:05:15 PM PST
by
SunkenCiv
(The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
To: SunkenCiv
If I were going to use toilets for planters, I would have put them in the back yard, but to each his own.
18
posted on
12/17/2010 8:54:04 PM PST
by
TheOldLady
("Face it, Obama: You, too, were a useful idiot." - Lazamataz, who would hit it...with a brick.)
To: SunkenCiv; Revolting cat!; JoeProBono; Lucky9teen; Slings and Arrows; Daffynition
Im not gonna *ask* where they go to the bathroom. Too late...
19
posted on
12/20/2010 8:27:13 AM PST
by
a fool in paradise
(The establishment clause isn't just against my OWN government establishing state religion in America)
To: a fool in paradise
That's too beautiful!
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