This past week in New Jersey we've dealt with three minor snow storms. Each one of them dropped between 3"-6" near me and were relatively uneventful. Sunday night, Super Bowl Sunday, was the 2nd storm and it was a wet, and heavy, snow. The following morning I performed my usual clean up routine. My neighbor, with his snow blower, began with the sidewalk on the side of my house which gets good foot traffic, we always want it to be safe (We often help each other out). With that I began by clearing my driveway. At the end of my driveway was the typical mounds of plowed snow, except this time it was heavier, icier and further into the street than usual. After cracking my plastic snow shovel, to make things easier, I grabbed a metal shovel, cleared my way to the street and made a nice space for the mail truck.
At this point you're probably thinking, "Dude! Get a snow blower!" Yes, this would help, but this might have been the 3rd time in 8 years I've had to shovel this way, so for what it's worth, at my age, its ok for now. At least, that's what I thought.
I finished clearing my mailbox, went to start the rest of my sidewalk, and that's when it happened, I felt a twist in my back from the right shoulder blade down to my hips. It wasn't crippling but it was enough that I called it a day. All-in-all about 1/2 - 2/3 of my sidewalk was clean (especially the only part anybody really uses), my driveway was clean and my mailbox cleared out. Now, you may be asking why this is important and what it has to do with liberty? I promise if you stay with me it will all make sense.
As you may well be aware, most townships, if not all, have ordinances that require the clean up of snow in a timely manner. The penalty for failure to comply (extortion) varies greatly, and this is were we start to connect the dots.
Flash to Tuesday afternoon and my back is feeling much better. My wife mentions that she is going to Michael's to buy paints and asks if I need anything while she's out. I ask her to get a snow shovel because I ruined the other and wanted to finish the sidewalk. On her way to the car she grabs the mail and brings it back to the house. With the mail was a yellow door hanger from the township, usually used for coordinating inspections for various reason, except this was not dated, signed, nor marked with a time. This notice contained nothing but a white envelope sticker that said "YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO REMOVE THE SNOW FROM YOUR SIDEWALK OR A SUMMONS AND $2000 FINE WILL BE ISSUED." That's right a TWO THOUSAND DOLLAR fine. Talk about EXTORTION. Safe to say, I was LIVID!
Now, I planned on finishing the sidewalk regardless, but, as I said, I was a bit taken back. First of all, it's not the first time I've taken a few days to clear the walk and I've NEVER received so much as a dirty look from neighbors. As a matter of fact, I usually clean the sidewalk of my one elderly neighbor and the driveway of my mother's friend across the street. Who could have possibly complained? Well as it turns out, the neighborhood extortionist (code enforcer) slipped the notice into the mailbox of every house that had snow on the sidewalk. Did I mention we had 3" of snow in the forecast for that night?
I know there are plenty that say "But Mike its just a warning, they didn't have to do that." Where this is true and understandable, I would now like to explain the flaws in the actions that took place.
- The method of delivery is lazy, impersonal and devoid of any sense of community.
- Perhaps the homes with cleared driveways, and more, could have received a knock at the door and a friendly reminder. Since these homes would be a safe walk to the door, would this not be the community feel so many complain is missing in our society? Should the public servant not serve and determine the following: Was everybody ok? Will they be able to complete the work? Are they disabled, elderly, terminally or chronically ill? Imagine a person in one of those positions getting a friendly check in vs a threatening, lazy sticker on a door hanger.
- The wording of the notice is aggressive and threatening, thus unnecessary.
- There's really no need to yell. ALL CAPS IN THE COMPUTER AGE IS YELLING. Would it have been so hard to say "Dear Resident, we are kindly reminding you that according to town code XYZ.....Thank you and Stay Safe." The response would have been more "Ah damn, let me go finish that.." vs "Oh slow the hell down man I'm working on it." One is aggressive and threatening the other is neighborly and professional.
- The threat of the "$2,000 fine" is intentionally misrepresenting the actual code in an effort to manipulate the emotions of our neighbors with a worst possible case scenario. It leverages fear of an astounding fine during a draconian lockdown and an economic/unemployment crisis, a fine that for some would mean financial ruin.
- According to the actual code in town the fine assessed shall be, "...a penalty of not less than $100 and not to exceed $2,000 or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 90 days, or both, in the discretion of the Judge before whom such conviction may be had." So, not only is it not guaranteed to be a $2,000 fine, you have a chance to speak to a judge who has the ultimate say in the what the penalty may be, meaning there may be none at all, since they may chose to not convict.
- This last point is less of an issue but should still matter. If they had the time to print the sticker and place them on door hangers, could they not have printed up a kindly and professionally worded letter? Would it not have been less expensive, more efficient, and more respectful?
The actions of the township officials involved are a gross weaponization of the town's code book. They unnecessarily struck fear and anxiety into the hearts of plenty, and through chosen actions created a sense of hostility and division rather than one of community and pride. Yes be a good neighbor and clear your sidewalk, the overwhelming majority act accordingly. No, you don't have a right to threaten extortion, never mind intentionally deceive your neighbor by making it sound worse than it may be already.
I will dive in the actual illegitimacy of such laws in Part 2, as we examine Natural Law philosophy as explained by Lysander Spooner.