Posted on 06/16/2012 11:07:10 AM PDT by Altariel
TULSA, Oklahoma -
A Tulsa woman is suing the city's code enforcement officers after she said they cut down her garden with no cause.
Denise Morrison said she has more than 100 plant varieties in her front and back yards and all of them are edible and have a purpose.
She knows which ones will treat arthritis, which will make your food spicy, which ones keep mosquitoes away and treat bug bites, but she said none of that matter to city inspectors.
Last August, Morrison's front and back yards were filled with flowers in bloom, lemon, stevia, garlic chives, grapes, strawberries, apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, an apple tree, walnut tree, pecan trees and much more.
She got a letter from the city saying there had been a complaint about her yard.
She said she took pictures to meet with city inspectors, but they wouldn't listen, so she invited them to her home so they could point out the problem areas.
"Everything, everything needs to go," Morrison said they told her.
When she heard they wanted to cut it all down, she called police. The officer issued her a citation so it could be worked out in court.
She said she went to court on August 15, and the judge told them to come back in October. But the very next day, men were cutting down most of her plants.
They even cut down some of her trees -– ones that bore fruit and nuts -– and went up next to her house and basically removed everything in her front flower bed.
"I came back three days later, sat in my driveway, cried and left," Morrison said.
Morrison said she had a problem at her last property with code enforcement, so this time, she read the ordinance, which says plants can't be over 12-inches tall unless they're used for human consumption. She made sure everything she grew could be eaten, which she told the inspectors.
"Every word out of their mouth was, 'we don't care,'" Morrison said.
Morrison said she used many of the plants that were destroyed to treat her diabetes, high-blood pressure and arthritis.
"Not only are the plants my livelihood, they're my food and I was unemployed at the time and had no food left, no medicine left, and I didn't have insurance," Morrison said. "They took away my life and livelihood."
Morrison finally went to court last week for the citation she got last August at another property. The garden portion of the citation was dismissed and she pleaded no contest to having an inoperable truck in her driveway.
She filed a civil rights lawsuit this week, accusing the inspectors of overstepping their authority.
The City of Tulsa said it hasn't received the lawsuit yet, so it couldn't comment.
I almost feel that you must be a neighbor. We, too, own a Victorian house (a cottage, really) that was long neglected. Unfortunately, it’s still a tiny bit neglected but much better than when we first bought it. Our neighbors are complete slobs (yard a mess!)but the nicest people on earth. We really love them. I learned the hard way as a condo owner at one time, that leaving people alone is the only way to be a good neighbor.
Yeah, not a great neighborhood but still her place stands out as “run down”.
Survivalism ain’t pretty.
So all health care should be under the auspices of the big-government/big-corporate medical monopoly?
Your opinion about herbs (obviously you know little to nothing about them) is only worthwhile to yourself.
I treat myself and others with herbs and have seen impressive results.
It’s tyrannical for a city to cut down a private citizen’s plants. I’m glad I don’t live there.
And so what if she’s “nutty”? Should that be a code violation?
Hey ... if you want to go so far into the territory of “I hate everything about everything the government is involved in” I’m not here to stop you.
I think they were wrong to interfere on her property.
I also believe ... and I’m entitled to the opinion without being labeled some kind of “big government supporter”... that when you have a serious ailment...you’re better off seeing a DOCTOR for it and not trying to diagnose and treat yourself.
The concept of what they did to her is astounding to me. Where I live (in a town called Richlands specifically for its agriculture), just about every single property owner uses their land for edible gardens, including me. I can’t imagine anyone having a problem with people providing food for themselves. Especially since healthy eating is the cause du jour right now.
Hey ... if you want to go so far into the territory of “I hate everything about everything the government is involved in” I’m not here to stop you.
Strawman.
I also believe ... and I’m entitled to the opinion without being labeled some kind of “big government supporter”... that when you have a serious ailment...you’re better off seeing a DOCTOR for it and not trying to diagnose and treat yourself.
How about changing it to “I’M better off seeing a DOCTOR for it and not trying to diagnose and treat MYSELF”.
Free will is a wonderful thing. If you like doctors, great - fine - dandy!! I don’t. For a large number of reasons. I won’t diss your choice, you should give others the freedom to make their own choices in that regard - right or wrong.
I expressed an opinion.
When those are outlawed, please let me know.
Otherwise... accept my opinion as opinion and quit trying to cast me as someone who wants her rights taken away.
You take a shot, win or lose.
I have the same type of neighbors as you describe, right across the street.
They had an old house, in great disrepair when we bought our place, but through the years they've improved it as well as they could and done a pretty good job. During this period, they also lost a daughter to a car accident and raised her very young daughter when they were in their 60's and the he was severely disabled.
They try to do the best they can. I trust them to keep a watch on my property and they do the same.
I knew what I was buying into.
Hell, if you ever move into Maine, I'd be thrilled to have you as a neighbor.
>> “when you have a serious ailment...you’re better off seeing a DOCTOR for it and not trying to diagnose and treat yourself.” <<
.
If you don’t mind paying his bill with your life.
Why do you think Christ denounced the doctors?
Ahem - your statements indirectly but clearly said she was in the wrong, a nutter, and that YOU (meaning the dear reader of your comments) should see a medical doctor and not use herbs for healing. You were advising all the dear readers that that’s what WE should do.
You are of course perfectly free to type your opinion, but so am I! And my opinion is that people should be free to go to medical doctors, herbalists, grow herbs or do nothing - whatever suits their fancy.
Who ever complained should have minded their own business...too many people think everyone should do as they do and complaine when others do things different...nosy nellies....
There ya go!... thank you.
What are you? Christian Scientist?
I would think that medicine was a bit different during Christ’s time.
I really don’t recall him denouncing doctors. Many doctors ARE Christians.
Again ... I will express my opinion WHEN I want to.
IMO - if you have serious issues like this woman and you decide not to seek legitimate medical treatment and instead use solely herbs to treat it... it’s a little nutty.
No I am a Bible believer.
Medicine is, if anything, worse now than it was in the Lord’s time. It is far less honest.
Herbs are the way that works, ‘medical help’ is the way that diverts you away from your only chance at healing, and into a draining of both your life, and of your bank account.
Pharmaceutical drugs kill, in almost every case. They all have a long list of ‘side’ effects that are more pronounced than the advertised effect, and usually irreversible, so while taking the drug your life is wasting away, and your chance for real healing through the means that God provided is quickly disappearing.
There is no known disease that hasn’t been healed quickly and gently through natural means, and there is no disease that has ever been healed with drugs.
“Pharmaceutical drugs kill, in almost every case. They all have a long list of ‘side’ effects that are more pronounced than the advertised effect, and usually irreversible, so while taking the drug your life is wasting away, and your chance for real healing through the means that God provided is quickly disappearing.
There is no known disease that hasn’t been healed quickly and gently through natural means, and there is no disease that has ever been healed with drugs.”
Now you want things both ways. You say that most drugs are derived from herbs... but now those same drugs kill you.
Cancer has not been healed quickly and gently through natural means.
AIDS has not been healed quickly and gently through natural means.
Antibiotics have healed many things.
Don’t twist what I said.
Pharmaceutical drugs are, almost exclusively unnatural substances created by forced means.
Cancer does get cured gently by natural means every day. It has never been cured by mainstream medicine’s tinkering and chopping.
Manufactured antibiotics disturb the natural intestinal flora, weakening the immune system in the process, and leaving the patient more suceptible to reinfection, and to infection by other organisms. They heal nothing whatsoever; they leave the body debilitated.
Natural antibiotics, like alicin, have none of the above undesirables, and truly heal the body of the infection quickly, and at almost no cost or danger.
“AIDS” has most definitely been healed by natural, dietary means.
“HIV” cannot be cured because it is not a disease, but an excuse to pour costly chemicals down the patient until he dies in pain.
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