Sometimes one man's trash is his own treasure, and worthy of protection as such.
From the AP:
9/1/06. STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. - Two men who took fruit and vegetables out of a garbage can have been sentenced to six months in jail.
Giles Charle, 24, of Sumersworth, N.H., and David Siller, 27, of Wayne, Pa., said the punishment was harsh and the only choice they had to avoid a felony on their records.
They were on their way to the Rainbow Family's annual gathering when they were arrested in June and charged with felony burglary and misdemeanor theft. Authorities said they took five cucumbers, four or five apricots, two bundles of asparagus spears and a handful of cherries from a garbage can at Sweet Pea Produce.
The two pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing Wednesday and the felony charge was dropped.
"We didn't have any intention of committing a crime or doing anything wrong," Charle told the Steamboat Pilot & Today newspaper. "We had just come in town and we were prepared to buy groceries from a store but everything was closed...."
Thousands of people were in the Steamboat Springs area at the end of June and early July for the Rainbow Family gathering north of town. At times, the relationship between members of the nomadic group and authorities was tense and a number of citations were issued.
These prosecutions ought to put those dirty hippies in their place, huh?
Shades of Les Miserables, as an acquaintance of mine said (though I'd bet Marie Antoinette wouldn't have minded if the masses ate their cake out of the garbage). Could hanging pickpockets be far off?
I'm all for law and order, but I think this application of the law sketches an order we could do without.
Tags: Society; Justice; Law; Colorado
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