Posted on 04/01/2007 10:37:48 AM PDT by Stoat
Homeless Men Win $45,000 Lawsuit Against City Of Las Vegas March 29, 2007 4:26 p.m. EST Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Staff Writer
Las Vegas, NV (AHN) - Three homeless men arrested for sleeping next to feces won a settlement of $45,000 Thursday after taking the city of Las Vegas to court. Eastman Webber, David Hicks and Jerry Halfpap had been arrested last November under a provision against sleeping within 500 feet of feces or urine. However, the provision had been repealed in September, so the law no longer existed. Webber, Hicks and Hafpap were handcuffed and arrested at a park across from City Hall on November 16. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Lee Rowland said police singled the men out because they were homeless and that their civil rights were violated. "The City has taken the wrong tactic by criminalizing homelessness ... Clearly, I think this settlement shows that the city cannot violate the constitution without consequences." Hicks said they would not have been arrested if they had not been homeless. "The constitution says we have all inalienable rights," he said. "And I'm entitled to those same rights." He also had no idea that they were near feces. "I didn't even know it was there," Hicks said, laughing. "Was I supposed to go around searching for it?" Each of the men now has $10,000. Fifteen thousand went to their lawyer, Brent Bryson, who charged them a reduced fee. Bryson said the money will give them the "ability to get back on their feet. They can purchase a used car, if they so desire. They can get an apartment." Hicks, 44, said he is going to use the money to rent out an apartment and join the labor union. "I'm going to get my own transitional housing," he said. "Like a typical citizen, I plan on looking through the newspaper and on foot for rentals. I have a game plan." Halfpap, 47, and Webber, 67, said they were still deciding what to do with the money. |
You can apply for an apprentiship. They usually accept them yearly (at least in the western PA area). Then you have to wait for them to send you a letter to report for testing. Then you take a standardized test. Then the interview with the apprentiship commitee. Then if accepted, you report for training. At the end of the preliminary training, you join the union. And then and only then can you start working - assuming you have a letter of hire. It's not a bad program - for example the carpenters union keeps training you until you become a journeyman. If I was about 10 years younger, I would have joined.
Sorry, they'd be more at risk if they took a job in a place that allowed people to smoke.
That line in the story caught my attention also....I had similarly thought that you do indeed need to get hired first, then you join a Union, but I'm no expert on Unions and different Unions may have different ways of operating. If any Union Experts happen to know, please feel free to explain :-)
You can apply for an apprentiship. They usually accept them yearly (at least in the western PA area). Then you have to wait for them to send you a letter to report for testing. Then you take a standardized test. Then the interview with the apprentiship commitee. Then if accepted, you report for training. At the end of the preliminary training, you join the union. And then and only then can you start working - assuming you have a letter of hire. It's not a bad program - for example the carpenters union keeps training you until you become a journeyman. If I was about 10 years younger, I would have joined.
That does sound like a good program, and thank you very much for your comprehensive (and lightning-fast) answer! :-)
The puke attoney should get a ticket to Iran & practice this crapola over there. Again - THE ENEMY IS WITHIN
I'm sure that the mullahs would be delighted if he were to set up a practice specializing in the prosecution of miniskirt-importers :-)
MEMRI TV latest clips Iran's Enemies Want to Destroy it with Miniskirts (Iranian TV); 3 more.
And THAT's the story, not the settlement. The assclown politicians who pass these laws should be kicked out on to the street.
OK, that makes sense. Now, I wonder what Mr. Hicks would be qualified to be tested for?
Unfortunately, the article doesn't go into that level of detail. Thanks to Hacksaw's excellent explanation, however, we might guess that he either gained some sort of experience before becoming "homeless" or perhaps there is a Union that is willing to train a person like him.
Or, it may also just be a matter of him telling the reporter what he thinks that she wants to hear in order to have him portrayed in a favorable light.
People who live in desperate circumstances sometimes develop an ability to manipulate those around them.
Great idea whose time has come:
Booze Vouchers.
Hate to think that some homeless American guy might get a job that an alien would be perfectly entitled too! (off sarc)
You mean that the Belaggio could have had me arrested last year for going back to bed without flushing?
You mean that the Belaggio could have had me arrested last year for going back to bed without flushing?
Probably not, unless another hotel guest had noticed a slight scent of tobacco about your person....that would be cause for SWAT team involvement and incarceration for a thousand years in a cell with no internet access....and a foul excuse for a toilet three feet from your bed.
But the hookers would have been legal.
Only if they were non-smokers and drove economy cars.
:-)
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