...as long as it would carry the third sheet to the top 'o the mast it was ok. (Smokin' a rope is a sailors term.)
Delta 21
Posted on 01/11/2002 10:44:30 PM PST by LloydofDSS
Jan 11, 2002 Widow's Home Seized After Son's Arrest for Drug Possession The Associated Press ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Police have seized the house of an 82-year-old widow because they say she knew her son dealt drugs there and did nothing to stop him. Fannie Gresham's small home was seized Thursday under a state law allowing authorities to confiscate property linked to the illegal drug trade. Authorities also arrested her 50-year-old son, Tommie "Top Dollar" Gresham, on a drug charge after he allegedly dropped several rocks of crack cocaine and fled. Police records show 29 incidents of drug activity at the address since 1992 and authorities say drug dealers were caught numerous times fetching drugs from the house for street sales. Based on that, and police claims that the elder, widowed Gresham was helping her son's alleged operation, Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell issued a court order in December allowing the seizure. Boswell gave Fannie Gresham 14 days to move her belongings. Her attorney, Jim Smith, likened the seizure to the widespread illegal taking of property and land from blacks that he says tarnishes America's past. "They have never seized any drugs in this house. This lady is not accused of a single thing," he said. Police predicted more such seizures as they crack down on the drug trade in the city's troubled neighborhoods. A hearing on the seizure has been scheduled in February.
That could be, and I wouldn't doubt it. Note the difference between what you wrote ("hemp") vs. what the numbskull above wrote ("marijuana"). If I have to go back and explain the difference between the two to that guy, it'll be a sad day for FR and conservatism. :)
Oh,yeah! This will REALLY solve all her problems!She might not only have the thrill of watching her son shot to death in front of her.....Oh yeah,GOOD plan! Did you think of it all by yourself?
I am discussing the general principle of the helplessness of the elderly in a civilized society. You are twisting that around to create a specific strawman argument scenario that you can set up and then ridicule.
I posted "depending on the situation". If you want to take that and create ridiculous situations, that is your plan, not mine.
As I asked another poster, is it your position that, in America, the old and the weak are powerless against the young and the strong?
If an unarmed 85 year old lady is upstairs during a home robbery and her husband is downstairs bleeding after being shot, is that little old lady powerless while she still has a working phone and can dial 911?
Link Buyers show interest in confiscated home
By Joan Stroer jstroer@onlineathens.com
One widow's tragedy is another person's treasure, it seems.
Police phones rang Friday with prospective home-buyers expressing interest in a $20,00 Athens house drug officers confiscated Thursday from Fannie Gresham, an 82-year-old widow accused of allowing illegal drug sales there.
Barring court reversals, the state now owns ''Ma's House,'' a tiny home on Julius Drive with a well-tended patch of collard greens in the backyard. Proceeds from a sale will be shared by police and the Western Circuit District Attorney, but Athens-Clarke Police Chief Jack Lumpkin said the rare step of home forfeiture was not taken for money.
A neighborhood watch group pushed for the government seizure after Gresham, known to neighbors as ''Ma,'' turned a deaf ear to warnings from friends, neighbors and police, Lumpkin said. Police predict more such seizures as they go after the drug trade in some of Athens' troubled neighborhoods.
''Miss Gresham has been warned numerous times,'' Lumpkin said Friday. ''The issue is for the neighbors to have some peace of mind, and a crime and drug-free neighborhood, where they're not threatened by drugs.''
Some 29 incidents of drug activity were noted by police at her property since 1992, and authorities say drug dealers were caught numerous times fetching drugs from the house for street sales.
Based on that, and police claims that the elder Gresham was helping her son's alleged operation, visiting Superior Court Judge Stephen Boswell issued a court order in December allowing the seizure. Gresham's son, 50-year-old Tommie Gresham, was arrested Thursday during the raid on a charge of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Boswell gave Fannie Gresham 14 days to move her belongings out of the small house, which she and her husband, Tom, built in the 1950s. Tom Gresham died in June. A hearing to delve into the facts of the case is scheduled for February in Clarke Superior Court.
Jim Smith, an attorney for both Greshams, said he plans to appeal the forfeiture of Gresham's home to the Georgia Court of Appeals, and he claims her son is innocent of Thursday's drug charge. The elder Gresham was away during the seizure, and is now staying with relatives. Smith described her as ''frail,'' and ''upset'' over the loss of her home.
''They're taking property without any factual basis whatsoever,'' he said. ''That's all she owned.''
My point is that I am discussing the general statement that an elderly person is powerless against the young and the strong.
I never made the suggestion that this little old lady in this situation should have called in a SWAT team.
My point is that, in a civilized society, the old and the weak are not at the mercy of the young and the strong. A phone call to the Police can put the physical power of society at the service of the weakest and oldest of society's citizens.
Be careful what you wish for.
...as long as it would carry the third sheet to the top 'o the mast it was ok. (Smokin' a rope is a sailors term.)
Delta 21
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
now, what part of this is ambiguous to you.....
Yes,unless they have either political influence or bodyguards. The police will tell anyone without political influence to give them a call once a actual attack takes place,and they can and will make a arrest then.
If an unarmed 85 year old lady is upstairs during a home robbery and her husband is downstairs bleeding after being shot, is that little old lady powerless while she still has a working phone and can dial 911?
Yes. All her cell phone call will get her is the knowledge that the police and undertaker will remove her and her husband's body before their cats and dogs get hungry enough to eat them. Her cell phone won't keep her from being killed.
#1.. Because the average age when a kid gets hooked is 12. Is a 12 year old able to make rational decisions that will drive the restof their lives? Is your 12 year old? Were you so qualified at 12?
We have plenty perfectly legal, constitutional laws against selling booze, etc, to minors. --- Your 'for the children' argument is a liberal mantra, Hillary Mindbender.
#2 Because after the addict crashes their body, they want the taxpayers to fund their health care for the rest of their lives. Isn't it better to stop the problem in the first place?
And what the taxpaying addict wants, the liberal hillarys of this world gotta givem, right mindbender? In effect you say, - 'To hell with the constitution, we must have control!' --- You are a socialist statist, branded by your own words above.
How dare those neighbors want a drug free neighborhood. Those Nazi's. /sarcasm
BTW would you like to have this lady and her crack dealing son as your next door neighbor?
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14th, - 'nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process.'
Ever occur to you that NO one would if we regulated the sale of drugs as we do booze?
Let people make all the bad choices they want, then let them live or die with the consequences. It's ridiculous to establish "free healthcare" programs, then pass laws further expanding government powers in order to protect the programs from fraud. The programs are fraudulent in and of themselves. It's particularly dishonest to use the existence of such unconstitutional programs as the justification for even more unconstitutional government action.
yes .. I am outraged ... that the son was not in jail. If he was such a threat to the community why was he allowed to be out on the street. Convict him of a crime, put him in jail,... little old lady lives happily ever after.
It's possible she was being victimized herself. Where was her police protection.
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