Posted on 09/28/2005 9:30:22 AM PDT by FeliciaCat
It's an only in New York story. A woman was given a ticket for sitting on a park bench because she doesn't have children.
The Rivington Playground on Manhattan's East Side has a small sign at the entrance that says adults are prohibited unless they are accompanied by a child. Forty-seven-year-old Sandra Catena says she didn't see the sign when she sat down to wait for an arts festival to start. Two New York City police officers asked her if she was with a child. When she said no, they gave her a ticket that could bring a one thousand dollar fine and 90 days in jail.
The city parks department says the rule is designed to keep pedophiles out of city parks, but a parks spokesman told the Daily News that the department hoped police would use some common sense when enforcing the rule.
The spokesman told the paper that ticketing a woman in the park in the middle of the day is not the way you want to enforce the rule
Enforce it, or else have no rules.
NYC had serious problems with convicted pedophiles hanging out in public parks and the ACLU took the pedophiles' side when cops would roust them.
So the city was forced to ban all adults unaccompanied by children from the parks.
If the cops don't enforce the rule, watchful ACLU lawyers will file a lawsuit claiming that the law is only selectively enforced against their clients.
So instead of blaming the cops, thank the ACLU for standing up against children and for predators.
Yes, i think adult free zones when they are for the protection of children are constitutional and need to be enforced even handedly.
IMO selective enforcement is awful and leads to bigger problems.
I agree...even though a 47 year old woman is probably the least likely to be a child predator. Thank you ACLU. //sarcasm.
well yes, we better get rid of speeding laws... or most traffic laws for that matter -- selective enforcement of them would be a bad precedent. cops who give 'warnings' should be disciplined.
(please don't tell me i have to label this as sarcasm)
I do believe selective enforcement is not the way to go. Maybe a much larger sign so people unaware of the law might see it clearly?
I was somewhat irritated until I ready your comments. Sounds reasonable. Give her the ticket.
These parks are paid for by all taxpayers.
It's insane to forbid anyone from using them unless they have a proven record of causing trouble.
The ACLU should be ashamed of themselves, but really, this kind of law is not the answer.
And a $1,000 fine for a first offense? That just doesn't fly.
D
Or that she was indulging her "inner child" by sitting on that particular park bench.
Different article.
And Welcome to Free Republic!
Yes, perhaps give her the ticket, so that the issue hits the papers and the point is made.
But then the judge who hears the case should use the discretion he has to dismiss the ticket, or have a token fine of a dollar, etc.
The city wasn't forced to do this. They did it, because that's what they wanted to do. Also, the ACLU is just a bunch of lawyers. If there was a court ruling a judge gave the ruling, not the ACLU.
You didn't say whether, or not NYC enacted an ord. If they did not, then the judge was correct and some folks were being hasstled arbitrarily. If NYC had an ord on the books, then it was as good as any law restricting both voting and ownership of arms by ex-cons.
It so happens that parks have been traditionally been used for other puposes, such as this lady was doing. Some old folks may park there to enjoy watching the children, others might just want to use the fountain and rest.
The law is beyond stupid. It's rotten to the core.
Great! Let's apply it to abortion providers.
That way none of the employees can show up.
Full Disclosure: Yeah, let's see them participate in "bring your daughter to work day".
Anti-ACLU, anti-pedophile Sarcasm Torpedo ARMED. FIRE!!
Yup. Pedophiles should be where the ACLU wants them--teaching in the schools.
Full Disclosure: Yes, I am talking about women. There have been a number of threads recently on FR which talked about young teachers having sex with male students.
The NYC press has been killing the cops for all sorts of issued summons over the past couple years. When Bloomberg took office after Guiliani, there was a huge deficit in this city and a lot of people saw an increase in summonses being issued by the police. Press ran with it and accused Bloomberg's administration of trying to close the budget gap with these tickets. No mention of the fact that Guiliani actually brought crime down in this city because of his "broken window" theory of policing.
Someone else mentioned it here, but it is worth reiterating that this law was specifically passed to keep the pedophiles away from the playgrounds. If you do not think there is a problem with this group in NYC, try pulling up the Registered Sex Offender list there (and this only encompasses Level 3 offenders, imagine how many others are out there).
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