Cancel that “presumed innocent” jazz
Can you prove that isn’t your garbage? Norman says you have to:
A new ordinance unanimously approved Tuesday by the Norman City Council will require residents to prove, in a court of law, they did not litter, rather than having the city attempt to prove they did.
The council unanimously approved the ordinance that holds businesses and individuals accountable for unlawfully discarded trash or litter.
The rationale for this:
The ordinance creates a “rebuttable presumption” that an individual or business is littering if two or more items at one location bear a common address or company name “in a form which tends to identify the latest owner of the items.”
With approval of the ordinance, anyone convicted of littering will be subject to a fine of $50 to $750 and/or up to 60 days in jail.
And I said, “Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope under that garbage.”
(Via Fark.)
fillyjonk »
14 February 2009 · 1:40 pm
Oh, great. So now if you get a neighbor with a beef against you they can make your life hell by taking you to Litter Court?
As much as I hate litter (and would like all litterbugs to be given 200 hours of community service picking up sodden newspapers, disintegrating plastic bags, and dirty diapers off the side of the road), I think this is wrong.
In my town, you can only have someone fined if you find two pieces of litter with their name and address on it. (Presumably that would only happen if someone was very careless in putting out trash with junk mail in it).
What’s next? Registration and a 7 day waiting period before you can get take out food from a drive-through window?
unimpressed »
15 February 2009 · 9:17 am
I have a problem with my trash getting spread all over the yard quite frequently and I don’t know what the ordinance is on “how much is mine” in order to be fine-able. However, it really isn’t my fault. My trash is put in the container(s) with the top is bungeed closed. The problem is with a neighbor’s large dog that isn’t fed well enough. He escapes and knocks over our (and maybe other’s) trash bins to survive. I don’t blame the dog, but loose dogs are also a municipal issue.