The Price of Freedom

How much do you really believe in freedom?

If the government decided to restrict your freedom or violate your rights, how much would you resist?

Most of us cannot answer that question without using our imaginations to understand the situation and formulate the answer.

The two people in this image (and one who is absent, represented only by the sculpture of his legs and buttocks) can answer that question without the use of imagination.

Let me introduce you to Aileen and Alyssa Davis. They have lived a nightmare that most of us can only imagine.

In 1986, the third member of their family, Alan, was building an airplane in his garage.

The local zoning authority decided Alan was violating their rules of home usage, despite the fact that no written rule against it could be found.

Without a warrant, his home was searched and pictures taken. A lawsuit by Alan and Aileen ensued and after 4 years they won.

While this was going on, Alan and Aileen moved to a neighboring county. As soon as the suit against their former county of residence was settled, their current county started making “home inspections” for no apparent reason.

Over the course of 8 years, 350 of these “inspections” were conducted. No warrants were issued but the trespasses, along with other violations of their rights, continued. Eventually, Alan started accumulating large items, including a 7 foot tall version of the “Kiss my Ass” sculpture Aileen and Alyssa are holding, and used them as impediments to the repeated incursions.

He was eventually charged with “felony littering” and arrested. Trial ensued and he was sentenced to 366 days in prison. This sentence was one day longer than the maximum stay in a county jail and was done to ensure he would be incarcerated in a state penitentiary. He will be released in November 2004 or sooner if he can have his appeal heard in time.

This family was disrupted by government stepping far outside of the bounds of justice. The county decided to bring Alan and Aileen under control and they did so by all means available, legal or not. They sent a man to the penitentiary for having a messy yard; how absurd is that? It is true they gave him several opportunities to submit to their authority; it speaks highly of Alan that he stood his ground. Unfortunately, by standing up for his constitutional rights, he angered the county so much they endangered his life by sending him to prison.

This behavior by government should worry us all! If we do not make government operate within the constitution, the price of liberty will some day be terribly high for all of us. Does the state of your yard please your county? If not, you might become Alan’s roommate.