Posted on 09/20/2007 4:29:27 PM PDT by decimon
BARROW COUNTY, Ga. -- A Barrow County woman says an off-duty deputy handcuffed and had her strip-searched because of a simple dispute over a power line.
“My life has never been the same since. I’m having a very hard time with it,” said Sue Worley.
A farm in Hoschton in Barrow County has been home to 60-year-old Worley all her life.
Late last year, a letter from the Georgia Transmission Corporation told her a 230 Kilovolt power line was going to go through her property. When surveyors showed up, Worley said she went down the road to talk. She said she didn’t threaten anyone, but the Barrow County deputy working with the surveyors didn’t see it that way -- the deputy called for backup.
“I saw two sheriff’s cars drive up,” said Worley. She was handcuffed, arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
“I was in the car and I went all the way to the jail handcuffed,” she said. Worley was booked into the jail, patted down and strip searched.
“She sprayed me down with lice spray. It was so humiliating,” Worley said. “They made a criminal out of me.”
The charges were dropped, but Worley and her lawyer are suing the Georgia Transmission Company.
“It’s just pure, old-fashioned intimidation. They want people’s land and they don’t want to pay for it,” said Worley's lawyer, Don Evans. “They’re going to set their power poles wherever they want and if anybody gives them any lip, they’ll put you in jail.”
She and her lawyer said they’re suing, not just for her, but for other Georgians facing the threat of eminent domain and what they see as loss of property rights.
“I just don’t see how this could happen in a land of freedom, but we don’t have freedom anymore because people can just do anything they want to,” said Worley.
Project H.O.P.E. -- Homeowners Opposing Power Line Encroachment -- said Worley's case shows the need for the governor and legislature to draw stronger citizen-friendly laws to prevent what it calls, "preferential treatment," for power companies.
A spokesperson for the Georgia Transmission Corporation told Channel 2 they had hired a deputy because they'd had some subtle threats from other residents in the area.
Right now, it looks like the power line will go up either late next year or in early 2009.
I’ll admit I finessed that question, but it really was moot ... the cop was there and the arresting question is “what happened next?” The former will certainly come up in her lawsuit but once you are under command of a LEO, you must obey. Just ask taser kid. We don’t have the full story and I am willing to give the deputy the benefit of the doubt until there is audio or visual evidence to the contrary. Or at least the arrest report.
Some states gave such powers to canals, railroads and tollroads.
That doesn't change the fact that everyone can have their day in court.
You fvill stay on topic! You fvill not deviate from the topic!
I took the liberty becuz I started the thread.
Heck no.
If you knew what it cost to build a substation you would not find that surprising.
For what it cost to build some substations they could buy most ranches.
If they built a multi-million dollar substation there what would they get one customer that would buy a couple of thousand dollars of electricity a year?
First thing to remember is the situation did not call for an arrest! There was no crime committed even if she gave a threatening opinion to the police.(Freedom of speech “Its in our constitutional rights”. The police allowed the situation to get out of control and went with it because like most law enforcement,including judges “They practice a system, NOT LAW!!!. The american people must learn to fight to maintain our freedom and stop letting law makers make up our minds.Once we do this, govt.policies will change and american freedoms will not be abused!!!
Your tag line is about the same as the advice we received when new to the Army. Good advice.
I do know what it costs to build a substation. I’m the retired EE, remember? Back then, it probably would have cost about $15 mil. I know, ‘cuz I asked the power company.
And yes, they could have bought the ranch - for about $1.4 mil. I know, because I asked the owner how much the place was selling for - he was fed up with the destruction of his hay fields.
But no, the power/transmission companies have their lawyers work up studies so that the owner of a pristine piece of property gets jack in the way of compensation. They wouldn’t buy the ranch, they wouldn’t compensate him fairly (because they like to use urban-based property valuations, they stack the deck against rural property owners) and they wouldn’t deliver electricity.
Oh, and the power on the transmission line is to wheel power from rural generation points fired by coal to urban areas where the urban intellectuals and environmentalists don’t want coal-fired plants in their back yards. So they’ll allow the power plants to site the power plant and the transmission lines in rural folks’ backyards.
Little wonder that when urban-area power utility trucks get stuck out here, folks pass ‘em by without even waving.
People who don’t want power lines should not have electricity.
There is nothing in the article to indicate the woman does not want the power lines. There is an indication that this is about just compensation for the use of her land.
When I’m in public, ie, not on my property, I have to comply with a LEO’s commands.
When a LEO is on my property, without a warrant for my arrest or a search of my property, *and* he’s in the employ of someone who is not the sheriff of the county, the situation is rather different. If her lawyer is even marginally competent, this is going to be explained to the sheriff’s department.
If she did not threaten or assault the GTC surveyors, the deputy had nothing to do. It sounds as tho he did realize that he was without the authority of the sheriff’s department, because he called for “backup” - and those deputies then escalated the situation to the ultimate arrest and strip-search.
Given that the woman was on her own property (a matter of significance that many of you are completely missing) and the deputy was in the employ of GTC at the time, I don’t give the benefit of the doubt to the deputy - I give it to the property owner.
That is a BS statement if I have ever heard one.
Now that's just not neighborly. Folks should honk, wave and smile when they pass the stuck trucks.
So you did , Let me give it a shot.
The topic is whether granny should have been arrested and whether she would have been arrested had the deputy not been moonlighting with the power company.
The second half of your question" whether she would have been arrested had the deputy not been moonlighting with the power company."
I'm guessing that if the Power Co. had called the Police instead of the moonlighting Deputy . No .
But thats why they hired the Deputy in the first place isn't it ?
The first part on whether she should have .It's possible If she caused a danger to herself or others or she broke the law she should have been. If on the other hand she was just being annoying and her crime was holding up the ( expensive) work crew . No
If it had been this small west Texas town, they would have just taxed the poor woman out of her property, then gone ahead with utilities building.
“People who don’t want power lines should not have electricity”
Yeah! How dare we expect our government entities to be respectful of our rights. Sheesh who do we think we are!!
“Folks should honk, wave and smile when they pass the stuck trucks.”
The single finger salute??
Check out reply #38
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