Posted on 05/31/2007 10:37:22 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - A homeless man who was arrested after asking a policeman for a dollar got a judge to throw out the case by arguing that begging is a form of free speech.
Judge Gail Rice made the ruling after Eric Hoffstead had his lawyer cite a 15-year-old federal court decision saying New York state's loitering law violated First Amendment protections.
"This is a great victory for freedom of speech," said Hoffstead's lawyer, Carl Birman.
Hoffstead was still in the county jail Thursday on a separate trespassing charge.
The ruling Wednesday nullified a loitering charge and a misdemeanor drug charge. Police said they found a crack cocaine pipe on Hoffstead, 36, when he was arrested last November.
The 1992 case applied specifically to enforcement in New York City, and the state law, which prohibits begging in a public place, had never been changed. But when Hoffstead, who has been arrested 20 times in Westchester County, read about the case, he asked Birman to bring it up in court.
Rice's ruling echoed the 1992 decision.
So is pointing a gun at someone and saying “give me all your money”. Oh, well, I guess we’ll just have to give up on all these ‘law’ thingies and just deal with it... /s
The beggar had a lawyer.
Judge: So, how do you plead?
Beggar: C’mon, Mister - I know you can spare a dollar - c’mon, buddy - you’ll never even miss it - c’mon, help a brutha out...
ping. “Spare change?”
Wearing t-shirts with Bible verses in public school? Forbidden.
It wasn't the lawyer who thought of it, it was the beggar. Probably doing some research in the prison library.
What are the odds that this is a hippie beggar, who simply doesn't want to work?
This is Stare decisis in action.
The First Ammendment is also a law. You can't respect law by picking and choosing which laws you deign to respect.
Laws have consequences--many of them unintended (as in this case.) That's why laws should be carefully considered, and passed/changed only very infrequently, after much deliberation and consideration. Even more so at the level of the Constitution.
That’s a really cool part about America.
So, beggars can't be choosers--but they can be lawyers!
Yes it is.
What a country. Maybe the beggar is a lawyer, too.
Cordially,
Cordially,
I guess it's a good thing judges take an oath to uphold stare decisis when sworn in. </sarcasm>
So, what if every single person the judge ever meets or passes now asks him for money? Then he might realize the purpose of the ordinance.
Or can we go to his house and ring his doorbell at any time of day and ask for money? Is that legal?
Brilliant. *applause*
THANK YEW - I’ll be here all week - try the veal - don’t fergit to tip yer waitress, and then help her back up...
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