Quoted message said:Ed Chasteen, a cyclist with multiple sclerosis, was charged with
"pushing a bicycle" in Lawson, Missouri, population 2300, in an
area where bicycle travel is prohibited both on the street and
the adjacent sidewalks of the business district. Local law
forbids even pushing a bike.
The judge had taken Ed's case under advisement to study the issues. We
just found out yesterday that the verdict came back "guilty".
Below is Ed's own version of the story. Below that, contact info for
Lawson city officials and links to background info.
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When Law Loses Its Authority
By Ed Chasteen
When civil authority arbitrarily enforces its laws, those laws loose
their claim to justice. When I was allowed for 14 years to ride my
bicycle on Pennsylvania Avenue in Lawson and then one morning was told
by the Chief of Police that it was illegal under a city ordinance on
the books for 34 years, I became a victim of injustice. When the city
prosecutor refused to prosecute the ticket I was given and was fired by
the mayor and city council, justice was denied. When the new city
prosecutor and the judge employed by the city said I was guilty,
injustice was done.
This is the language of Lawson's city ordinances under which I was
given a ticket for "pushing a bicycle" in August 2004:
SECTION 225.020: BICYCLE REGULATIONS
A That no person shall be permitted to push or ride a bicycle on the
sidewalks or streets of Pennsylvania Avenue from fifth Street to the
Santa Fe railway tracks.
B That any bicycles on the streets after the street lights are turned
on in the evening, must be equipped with lights.
C That any parent found guilty of permitting any of the provisions of
this Section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof shall be fined an amount not less than one dollar
($1.00) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Ord. No.
KK169-3,7-7-70
I fist rode my bicycle up Pennsylvania Avenue in the summer of 1990. If
I had been stopped by the police on this ride and told that I was doing
something illegal, I would not have done it again. If I had been told
at anytime over the next few months, I would have stopped and made no
complaint. But when after 14 years I was told, my sense of justice was
offended.
When I was allowed for 14 years to violate a law that had been on the
books for 20 years when I first rode into town, that law lost its moral
and legal authority. When law is enforced arbitrarily, it ceases to be
law and becomes a tool used by those in authority to maintain their
power. If law does not apply all the time to all the people, if it is
not enforced every time its violation is known, then we must cease to
call it law and know it by what it has become.
When I hear that some of my friends in Lawson are verbally abused
because I protest the arbitrary application of law, I am heartsick and
sad. I want to give up. But I cannot quite bring myself to surrender.
If I lose respect for myself, how can I expect others to respect the
notions of justice I hold dear?
The heart of my objection to the charge against me is that the 14-year
failure to enforce the law rendered its eventual enforcement immoral
and unjust. But I also have lesser objections. For one, there are no
railway tracks that cross Pennsylvania Avenue. So it is not possible to
know where bicycles are prohibited. Secondly, the only penalty called
for is that the parent of the offending party be fined.
My 91-year old mother has a second floor walk up in a Corpus Christi,
Texas condo. No elevator. She has a new car. She's never home when I
call her. She holds numerous offices in various lodges and churches.
According to the ordinance I've been found guilty of violating, she is
liable for the $75.00 fine and court costs I have been assessed. She
has a will of iron and could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. I doubt she
would pay the fine.
The amount of money I have been asked to pay is small. Why not pay it
and move on? Against all the troubles and injustice in the world, a
fine for "pushing a bicycle" hardly registers. When I was a boy in
Texas in the 1950s, Kitty Kallen had a hit song called, "Little Things
Mean Alot." She was on to more than she likely knew. Mighty canyons
have their origin in single drops of water. Over time the steady drip
of single drops erode the earth. So do single laws misapplied.
Having said all this and having now talked to my wife and my bike
riding friends, I have decided to pay the $97.50. I will not in the
near future ride to Lawson. More friendly places beckon. What the mayor
and the police chief have won I'm not sure. But they did win. My hat's
off to them.
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Ed's email is hatebuster [at] aol.com
Contact info for Lawson city officials:
John Tracy, City Manager
City of Lawson
PO Box 185
Lawson, MO 64062
Phone: 816-580-3217
Fax: 816-296-4013
Email: lawsoncityclerk [at] aol.com
George Green, Mayor
City of Lawson
PO Box 185
Lawson, MO 64062
More info about the case:
http://www.mobikefed.org/2005/01/cyclist-with-multiple-sclerosis.html
http://www.mobikefed.org/2005/01/national-news-picks-up-story-on.html
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--Brent
brent [at] brenthugh.com