Good Samaritan Fined for Shoveling Elderly Neighbor’s Sidewalk
In the wake of a severe snowstorm last December, Pocatello, Idaho resident Mitch Fisher acted when city maintenance workers didn’t by clearing the sidewalks in front of his home and that of an elderly neighbor. This act was witnessed by a police officer who, in obedience to the universal government mandate to harass productive people without cause, issued Fisher a $206 citation for “placing or depositing material on a public right of way.”
Fisher had plowed his neighbor’s yard every year during the past nine winters without attracting the attention of the local tax-gatherers.
Of course, city-operated snowplows in Pocatello and other communities routinely deposit material from city streets onto private property.
After the story was publicized, Police Chief Scott Marchand defended the actions of his revenue farmer, claiming that Fisher had created a “safety issue for all drivers on the road” and stating that he had “directed officers who are investigating complaints or who observe people moving snow from private property into city streets to issue citations.”
Fisher had plowed his neighbor’s yard every year during the past nine winters without attracting the attention of the local tax-gatherers.
The story attracted national attention and no small measure of public outrage. For the past two months, he has been fighting the citation with the help of attorney Paul Echo Hawk, who took the case pro bono. Earlier this week, the charges against Fisher were dismissed.
“For what he was trying to do, I didn’t feel like he deserved criminal punishment,” Echo Hawk explains.
However, since government officials can never concede that they were in the wrong, the court still managed to extort a $75 fine as punishment for the Good Samaritan’s actions.
Republished from The Libertarian Institute.
William N. Grigg
William Norman Grigg is an independent, award-winning investigative journalist and author. He is the author of five books, most recently Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State. Mr. Grigg writes and publishes the Pro Libertate blog (www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com) and hosts the Freedom Zealot podcast.
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
