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Subject to inspection (Your papers please!)
Belleville News-Democrat ^ | Dec. 08, 2002 | GEORGE PAWLACZYK

Posted on 12/15/2002 4:46:54 AM PST by FSPress

Invite friends over, babysit your grandchildren or allow relatives to spend the night in Belleville and you risk an armed police officer turning up at your door to search your home and give you a ticket.

Enforcement teams consisting of a housing inspector and a police officer do not obtain search warrants before showing up to check for occupancy code violations, a Belleville News-Democrat investigation found.

(Excerpt) Read more at belleville.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 12/15/2002 4:46:54 AM PST by FSPress
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To: FSPress
Is this a joke?!

I just read the article and I was digging for the punchline, but didn't find one.

2 posted on 12/15/2002 4:55:23 AM PST by ECM
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To: FSPress
""This is a problem one sees all across the country -- the use of these housing codes for doing what really amounts to drug sweeps," said Ed Yohnka of the American Civil Liberties Union "

Looks like the WOD'ers are coming up with new and more creative ways to subvert the Constitution. However, that should be OK, after all it's to protect the children.

3 posted on 12/15/2002 5:03:17 AM PST by Kerberos
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To: FSPress
Can you post it again for those that didn't reply the first time.
4 posted on 12/15/2002 5:03:31 AM PST by snodog
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To: ECM
"Is this a joke?! "

No it is not a joke. There have always been those in LE who feel that police state powers should be part of their tool kit. And if we let them get away with it, the joke is on us.

5 posted on 12/15/2002 5:06:09 AM PST by Kerberos
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To: FSPress
This is a very slanted and biased report intended to discredit some useful actions by local government officials. There was an article in the WSJ several months ago about this. I also have seen first hand the behaviors described.

In many neighborhoods some people (usually immigrants) are buying or renting homes or apartments. They then subrent rooms to their friends. In my old neigborhood, there was a four bedroom used in this way. Zoned single family occupany, there were 20 adults and children living there. There were at least seven automobilies parked in the drive or along side the street. The home became run down, it was like living next door to a tenement.

Sure, complain about Fourth Amendment rights, etc., but then have 20 or 30 people move into the house next door to yours.
6 posted on 12/15/2002 5:10:58 AM PST by DugwayDuke
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To: FSPress
It would be a bad thing for someone to force themselves into my home without a warrant, whether they were a housing inspector, police officer or circus clown.

A bad thing for all involved.

7 posted on 12/15/2002 5:21:19 AM PST by Jarhead_22
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To: ECM
My feelings also.

Sounds like [as much as I hate atnys and suits] that someone needs to sue their socks off. Where's the hideous ACLU when they could be useful? Cheering?

Gestopo indeed.

And people still think the Biblical prediction of a world government is silly. Such blindness is the silly idioicy.
8 posted on 12/15/2002 5:50:47 AM PST by Quix
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To: DugwayDuke
I suspect you may be right, based on the fact that the city still exists.

If it were really as bad described in the article, I think that civil rights lawyers would be flooding the place for the chance to collect big settlements from all the lawsuits.
9 posted on 12/15/2002 5:53:41 AM PST by jimtorr
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To: DugwayDuke
Right on brother, saw the same thing happen next to me, Mexican with american girl rents, a week later they are gone and you have 6 to 8 illegals living in house. All were men, owners almost had to go to court to get them out.
10 posted on 12/15/2002 7:46:25 AM PST by org.whodat
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To: DugwayDuke
Sure, complain about Fourth Amendment rights, etc., but then have 20 or 30 people move into the house next door to yours.

What we don't like always justifies tyranny, right?

hank

11 posted on 12/15/2002 8:16:53 AM PST by Hank Kerchief
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To: DugwayDuke
There is a fundamental injustice in regard to so many municipal rules like this all around the country.

Sure, complain about Fourth Amendment rights, etc., but then have 20 or 30 people move into the house next door to yours.

You're argument is easy to relate to... But the truth about it is that it is entirely based on the desire to exert your own will over your neighbors property.

Can someone please define the word COVET for me?

12 posted on 12/15/2002 8:57:49 AM PST by OHelix
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To: OHelix; Hank Kerchief
"You're argument is easy to relate to... But the truth about it is that it is entirely based on the desire to exert your own will over your neighbors property." - OHelix

When my neighbor actions spill over the property lines, then it is not a matter of my coveting his property. At that point, he is the one coveting my property.

What we don't like always justifies tyranny, right? - Hank Kerchief

Nor, does it have the slightest thing to do with "tyranny".

Perhaps a bit of explanation is in order since it is obvious that neither of you has had a "neighbor from hell". Now, I'm not talking about some one who only mowes his grass ever other week. I'm talking about the guy who never mowes the yard.

I had such a neighbor for almost two years. The only way to get the grass mowed was to have the county come mow it which they would do once it was at least a foot high. I'm talking about a guy who wouldn't take out the trash. He opened the back door and threw all his garbage into the swimming pool. When this family moved out, they hauled six dump truck loads of garbage out of the house and the backyard and the pool. The county came in and took pictures of the house for use in training health inspectors.

And, as I pointed out earlier, I've also had the pleasure of having a neighbor who moved 20 - 30 "guests" into his four bed room house. Nor for a weekend, but for months.

Now, if either of you think my complaints are "coveting my neighbors propery" or "tyranny", well, think again. I could care less about what my neighbor does up to the point when it becomes my problem when he fails to maintain his property or when he starts a boarding house. That's not "coveting" nor is it "tyranny".

As I pointed out in my previous post, this is a growing problem. It has grown enough that it was a front page story on the Wall Street Journal several months ago. I suspect that the article posted here in nothing but a hit piece complaining about how the poor population is being put up by the terrible police. I suspect that in many of the incidents cited in this article are the direct result of complaints by neighbors.

13 posted on 12/15/2002 10:30:40 AM PST by DugwayDuke
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To: madfly
bump
14 posted on 12/15/2002 10:33:05 AM PST by Libertarianize the GOP
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To: DugwayDuke
There is a fundamental injustice in regard to so many municipal rules like this all around the country.

Sure, complain about Fourth Amendment rights, etc., but then have 20 or 30 people move into the house next door to yours.

You're argument is easy to relate to... But the truth about it is that it is entirely based on the desire to exert your own will over your neighbors property.

Can someone please define the word COVET for me?

15 posted on 12/15/2002 3:21:52 PM PST by OHelix
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To: OHelix
"There is a fundamental injustice in regard to so many municipal rules like this all around the country."

If you buy property, it is no "fundamental injustice" in requiring you to adhere to the zoning restriction existing on that property. There is a "fundamental injustice" when your neighbor decides to operate a boarding house in a residential neighborhood that is not zoned for that.

There is no "fundamental injustice" in expecting that a property owner adhere to safety regulations published by the fire marshall to ensure that.

Nor, is it coveting to expect that your neighbor does not turn his backyard into a garbage dump or establish a used car lot in his front yard.

If you don't like the rules for the neighborhood, then find another neighborhood. If you don't play by the rules, then it is you who is coveting your neighbor's rights.
16 posted on 12/15/2002 5:58:56 PM PST by DugwayDuke
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To: DugwayDuke
There is a fundamental injustice in regard to so many municipal rules like this all around the country.

You're argument is easy to relate to... But the truth about it is that it is entirely based on the desire to exert your own will over your neighbors property.

17 posted on 12/15/2002 6:02:27 PM PST by OHelix
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: Ookie Wonderslug
"Not some inspector seeing an extra car in the driveway and just walking in."

As I said before, this article has the appearance of a hit piece. You'll note that the only ones interviewed were those with complaints against the inspectors. It's very one sided. I suspect there is far more to this story than is presented here.

For example, the occupancy permits are not explained. I doubt that there is a requirement to get a permit to live in your own house despite the contents of this article. One suspects these are only applicable to rental property. Local laws are not fully explained. It maybe that warrants are not required for inspectors at rental property.
19 posted on 12/16/2002 3:00:15 AM PST by DugwayDuke
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