Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Scott Huber, Homeless Man, Ordered By Judge To Get A Job

Earlier this year, a homeless man who had been living on the streets for nearly a decade was told he could no longer sleep, camp or store any personal property on the streets of Naperville, Ill.

Scott Huber, 61, blames the Chicago suburb for the loss of his home and business, and created a "protest site" downtown where he lived for eight years. When the village issued an injunction banning him from camping downtown, Huber moved "just feet away from the legally defined northern border of the downtown area," the Chicago Sun-Times reports. That area happened to be in front of neuropsychologist Katherine Borchardt's office.

Huber was accused of “extreme and outrageous conduct” toward Borchardt when she asked him to leave the area, and he was ultimately charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. As punishment for those misdemeanors, a DuPage County judge has ordered Huber to stay away from the psychologist -- and to get a job.

“I feel like you need some assistance, some direction,” Judge Karen Wilson told Huber, according to the Sun-Times. “I feel like you have certain skills to assist yourself that you are not tapping into.

Huber was put on probation for two years and ordered to find a job working at least 10 hours per week. He reportedly said "I object" after the judge discussed mandatory job training.

"There is no excuse for those affluent and holier than thou in Naperville to violate federal law and ban my presence," Huber told the Daily Herald in 2009. The Joliet Junior College graduate who once ran an electronics store and ran for mayor of Naperville in 2007 has repeatedly insisted that his presence in downtown Naperville is out of protest.

"I'm not the classic homeless person, sleeping on a park bench or underneath a bridge and wandering aimlessly through a community," Huber told the Tribune in 2009. "I am here by choice under the 1st Amendment -- freedom of protest."

Origin
Source: Huff
Author: Mike Krumlauf 

2 comments:

  1. Hey, came across your post and saw you are using a frame from my interview with scott. please credit me.

    ReplyDelete