Posted on 03/11/2014 4:08:33 PM PDT by PaulCruz2016
An elderly woman violated her probation by leaving bread crumbs out in her yard for crows and will remain behind bars.
Eighty-one-year-old Mary Musselman was first arrested last month for feeding bears in her backyard. One of the bears was euthanized over it because the Fish and Wildlife Service said the bears might learn not to be afraid of people anymore and then get aggressive.
The judge in the case warned Musselman not to feed any more wild animals of any kind:
A judge gave her probation at the time, and made it clear: Do it again, and go to jail. She did, was arrested in January, and the case ignited controversy when Musselman was held without bond.
(Excerpt) Read more at activistpost.com ...
You’d feel lots differently about a picture showing what the bear who found only bread crumbs did to the toddler who lived three doors down.
Yeah, jail seems extreme; other options are worse.
She’s actually rather lucky. Neighbors who objected to her attracting wild animals to the area could have filed a class action against here for “maintaining a public nuisance” and taken it to small claims, each seeking damages just a dollar less than the threshold limit for Small Claims cases. Get enough neighbors in that line, and they could rack up a big enough tab that she’d be forced to sell the house.
Time in the clink might be merciful by comparison.
See, it’s all sort of this gut-wrenching mess of relative possibilities; some of which are possible, horrible, and just haven’t happened, yet, but could if she’s allowed to keep up the wildlife handouts.
Jail is an ugly “solution,” but she’s demonstrated that she’ll not abate if she has opportunity. She could have been found in contempt and fined; perhaps substantially. Would that help? Might help her sell her house. Time in the clink is probably merciful by comparison.
Nothing’s a pretty picture, here, but it WAS her choice to force the issue, and she opted to force it.
“Might help her sell her house. Time in the clink is probably merciful by comparison.”
—
If she’s smart the house is in a trust.
.
maybe she forgot about the court order.
You’re doing a good job trying to help your Mother. All you can do is offer certain choices. If my Dad decided to carry a large comb or hair pick with him in public settings as you described your Mom doing, I would presume he thought he may need a weapon for protection. If not to actually use it against someone, he may want it to throw a scare in somebody. Many folks this age are feeling very vulnerable and more helpless than they ever have before. They are adjusting to the facts of what age brings and takes away. Adjusting in not necessarily acceptance.
I don’t know how your mom thinks, she may have reasons more benign, such as always wanting to be seen at her best, and thinking if she put the comb away, it’s placement would be promptly forgotten. Maybe she doesn’t ever want to need to ask somebody where her comb is.
>> Being a sweet little old lady is no excuse to ignore the law.
Just this law in particular, or every law on the books?
Well, if she’s that senile, maybe its time she was put in a home or was more closely supervised, if she is senile that is.
She is suffering from senile dementia, a disease that killed my half-sister last August. Jailing her took her away
from her elderly, sick husband who is now alone. Do you really approve of this kind of torture for the elderly?
I hope that you never get old.
. . . . and Jon Corzine walks free.
You might think she is a supervilain after she attracts a bear to go play with your children. She was under sentence and ignored it.
I have bears to worry about due to former governor Corzine across the way in New Jersey.
So leave the snark.
” She is suffering from senile dementia, a
disease that killed my half-sister last
August. Jailing her took her away
from her elderly, sick husband who is now
alone. Do you really approve of this kind
of torture for the elderly?
I hope that you never get old.”
You’re right. She should just be allowed to do what she wants, regardless of consequences to area residents. Maybe you’d feel different if it was your children in the neighborhood.
News flash, animals get agressive over food.
Yeah, keep drawing interest from people who will love to play.
Keep snarking at people.
May I suggest another option to jailing this Alzheimer’s patient? When did we start treating people with dementia as if they
were criminals who actually know what they are doing?
She is not responsible for her actions, and medical treatment and possibly hospice care may be much more humane for her
than being tossed in the clink with no memory of why she is there.
How about the local churches? My husband’s late aunt had Christian volunteers look in on her for the last months of her life.
She suffered from the same ailment.
This very sick woman and her husband should not spend their golden years with her in jail and him at home alone and unable
to care for himself.
Did you think this through? There are fine Conservative ways to deal with people like this without the jack-booted LEOs and
leftist judges with no ability actually to JUDGE.
There are better ways to keep her from attracting the bears with some guidance from friends and/or church fellowship.
News flash. I have no children. Thanks for reminding me.
Hi Darks. My Hero!
I have no children either.
I can’t have any of my own.
And my step-daughter died in a car accident in December 2000 because her ex-boyfriend ran her off the road.
Levinfan also didn’t think it through as to where I myself reside.
We had an invasion of bear due to Corzine with his “Now don’t hunt those bearth!”* said with a lisp
Greenwood Lake [8 to 12 miles away straight line] had problems with pets being eaten by bear.
Lady walking her dog had to flee as her poodle got eaten, she had no choice.
Oh, and we now have an overpopulation of coyote here in NY because you need: A hunting license, with a predator endorsement/license, and a nuisance animal license before you can knock them one!
So guess what, the coyote here are bold, opportunistic scavenging pests that will eat your pets AND attack your children.
But hey, they were brought in to control the deer population!
Which they don’t do.
So I choose to laugh about bird based supervillainy instead.
“Go forth, my pigeony army, and poo on their heads!”
” May I suggest another option to jailing
this Alzheimer’s patient? When did we
start treating people with dementia as if
they
were criminals who actually know what
they are doing?”
Then I guess we should forceably commit her to care. That is the other option, and one people would be up in arms about too. In neither case can she be allowed to keep up the behavior.
Well, Mr. Control Freak, you go on ahead and force her into the looney bin.
But when you do it, don’t include me in your whatever “we” “should do.”
It’s none of your business, nor is it mine. I make suggestions while you make demands.
You may be in the wrong country. Oh, wait. Obama is making the country just the way you like it.
You’ve made my point. There are three ways to handle her behavior, and three ways ONLY.
One, ask her to stop.
Two, make her stop.
Three, let her do whatever she wants and care nothing about other people.
She was asked to stop, and didn’t. She was taken to court and punished, and ignored the rules of that punishment. Now she is paying for that. But you don’t want her to be punished.
That leaves letting her do what she wants, regardless of anyone else. That will not be acceptable to the people she affects.
If as you say she is mentally incapable of conducting herself properly, then what do you propose? Anything but force will require cooperation from her, and she has already shown she won’t give that cooperation.
Even the family can’t force her to do anything, nor can a church, or any other group. That leaves either treating her criminally and hopping she learns, or as a mental issue.
And I dare say you wouldn’t be fine with a mental case baiting dangerous animals into your neighborhood. THAT IS WHAT SHE IS DOING. That she doesn’t have ill intentions doesn’t change the results of her actions.
That isn’t being a control freak, that is understanding there is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and consequences for it. She crossed that line, and it needs dealt with.
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