Two conversations about constitutional rights

We have two different conversations about constitutional law. One is this hyper-technical purely legal analysis you see from lawyers and judges. The other is what really happens. So in this case, hooray, there are limits on the length of traffic stops, according to the USSC. But the other conversation says that if you get assertive about your constitutional rights in a real traffic stop, they won't let you go. Instead, you might get beaten, tazed, or shot.  The cop will likely face no consequences, just by claiming you resisted, or posed a "threat," or "he reached for his waistband." None of it needs to be true because a "reasonable mistake" is good enough. So, what good are rights if cops don't respect them and get away with violating them, day in and day out? The technological fix being proposed is video--dash cams and body cameras--and that may help, but the overriding problem is that police are drunk with power in this country. They can get away with almost anything and they know it. The can manipulate the on-the-scene situation, they investigate themselves, they have the union and prosecutors and most judges on  their side, and they are professional witnesses. Until that power situation changes, I think these USSC pronouncements are only meaningful in a small number of cases that get fully litigated. For thousands of day to day interactions between citizens and police, these "big decisions" are largely irrelevant.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/04/opinion-analysis-traffic-stops-cant-last-too-long-or-go-too-far-and-no-extra-dog-sniffs/

House Republicans want to do away with consumer protections for mobile home buyers

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/04/14/3646494/manufactured-home-loans-shouldnt-be-predatory-but-they-are/

I just listened to (Vice) Presidential candidate Marco Rubio make the argument that Big Government regulation is the reason ordinary people are getting screwed by banks. If you can believe that, you can believe the Republicans have your best interests in mind, mobile home owners:

"The House will vote Tuesday to repeal consumer protections for low-income borrowers in rural America who have seen the promise of affordable housing turned into a financial sinkhole by a mobile home industry that makes pre-manufactured houses far more expensive to buy than they need to be.

The bill is part of the GOP majority’s campaign to chisel away at specific pieces of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul that became law in 2010 but which left many details to be filled in later by regulators. In this case, it was the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that did that filling. After long study of both publicly-available data and proprietary information from the industry itself, the CFPB began enforcing new consumer protections for people who borrow money for a manufactured home. When Rep. Stephen Fincher’s bill to roll back those regulations passes on Tuesday, the rules will have been in force for barely 15 months. The mobile home financing market is an esoteric landscape for a battle between consumer advocates, regulators, and politicians. Compared to the American Dream trappings that come with traditional homeownership, families in mobile homes don’t have much cultural cache."

HOA oversight bills die in Florida

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/hoa-oversight-bills-doa-in-tallhassee/nksWS/

"Homeowners hoping for more state oversight of the association boards that rule their communities are out of luck this year as legislation to increase scrutiny of HOAs died for lack of support in Tallahassee.  It’s the second year in a row that proposals to give the Department of Business and Professional Regulation power to investigate complaints against homeowners associations and create educational programs for HOA board members failed to even make it to a single committee hearing."

WTVC NewsChannel 9 :: News - Top Stories - Utah Homeowner Asked To Remove US Navy Flag From Home

WTVC NewsChannel 9 :: News - Top Stories - Utah Homeowner Asked To Remove US Navy Flag From Home: (KUTV) A homeowners' association in Lehi is facing backlash online after sending a letter to a resident and telling her to remove a U.S. Navy flag displayed in her front yard.

Lucia Sandoval says she put the flag up to remember her husband, who is currently deployed with the U.S Navy. But shortly after the flag went up, she received a notice stating it was out of conformity with neighborhood standards.

"In a recent review of the community, it was brought to our attention that you may not be aware of one or more of the rules for the community," the letter from the HOA reads. "Your front yard had a flag displayed not in accordance with the accepted standards. Please remove the flag ASAP."

In the letter, the HOA cites community guidelines, which read, "Flags and flagpoles shall be uniformly placed and consistent in size and shape and shall not interfere with on site utilities."

Sandoval says she didn't understand how her flag violated any of those policies and is refusing to take it down.

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Another flag flap, this one in the Utah sector of Privatopia. Film at 10 on WTVC Channel 9.

The town fascism built

"Nestled in eastern Long Island is a sleepy little town called Yaphank where the streets have cozy names like Oak and Park, names that hide a dark past: they once bore signs like Hitler and Goebbels Streets.Yaphank, in the 1930s, appeared as a haven for Americans--most of them of German heritage--who sympathized with the causes of the Third Reich.

In fact, it was largely founded as a Nazi camp, one of several scattered across the U.S., where the children in the German American Bund (AKA American Nazis) could fish, swim, hunt and learn about things like eugenics."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3033153/The-town-fascism-built-Inside-New-York-hamlet-home-pro-Nazi-camp-street-named-Hitler.html#ixzz3Wtt5bosL 
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Robert Meisner Says Condo/Homeowners Associations Beware: The Michigan Legislature Has Dealt You a Severe Blow

I don't usually reproduce press releases, but I think in this case it bears repeating. I will be looking into the legislation in question, but for now, here is the word from attorney Robert Meisner:

-----------------------------------------

BINGHAM FARMS, Mich., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert Meisner, founder of The Meisner Law Group, PC, and nationally recognized as one of the premier community association lawyers in the country, is issuing an alert to anyone living in or thinking about buying a home in a condominium, homeowners association, or a cooperative. In a lame duck session this past December, the Michigan Legislature quietly made sweeping changes to the Michigan Nonprofit Act.

"Here's the hitch," says Meisner. "Every condo, homeowners/cooperative association is a nonprofit corporation, so the new laws apply to them. Among the things these homeowners need to know is that their boards of directors, officers, and others may already be virtually immune from liability and accountability to the association, even for gross negligence and certain intentional acts."

Meisner says that he is also concerned that the changes in the law take away much of the traditional democratic participation of the members of non-profits and make it easier for entrenched directors to remain in office. He says this allows directors to be elected without a meeting, eliminating open debate, passing matters at membership meetings without prior notice and even holding membership meetings without notice to the members. The law even allows the board to turn over complete control of the association to non-members who have no stake in the community.

"It is not just community associations that are affected," Meisner says. "The amendments have the potential to make non-profits of all kinds the tools of fraud and profit for the unscrupulous. I understand that the Michigan Legislature was trying to make the operations of non-profits more streamlined and efficient, but it seems that this legislation was rushed through without careful thought and analysis and without any input from those most affected."

Meisner is advocating that the legislature either modify or revoke the new legislation.

A nationally respected community association law specialist for over 40 years, and adjunct professor of community association law, Meisner has authored numerous legal articles, pamphlets and two books: Condo Living 1 and 2: Authoritative Guides to Buying, Selling, and Operating a Condominium.

For more information on the potential pitfalls of this new legislation, contact Robert Meisner at 248.644.4433 or atbmeisner@meisner-law.com.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/robert-meisner-says-condohomeowners-associations-beware-the-michigan-legislature-has-dealt-you-a-severe-blow-300056151.html

update:  and here is another attorney's summary of the changes.

HOA wins--developer has to pay the electric bill

"An East Naples homeowners association has won its legal battle after a judge agreed Glen Eagle Golf & Country Club didn’t pay their electric bills, leaving 105 homes without streetlights for five weeks after FPL flipped the switch.

Collier Circuit Judge Hugh Hayes ruled that Glen Eagle, the development’s master association, must pay Lago Villaggio Homeowners Association $18,000, with 4.75 percent interest from March 18, 2014, and reimburse the HOA for its lawyer’s fees."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vko6VujQRQcfuGgblKqKFGBPMye2e6uId_2gJpHKXq4/edit?usp=docslist_api

Man vows to take HOA to court over demolition demands | KOB.com

Man vows to take HOA to court over demolition demands | KOB.com

Judge rules owners can begin trying to take back property from receiver

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/judge-rules-troubled-condo-residents-can-take-back/nkZp9/

Thanks to Ward Lucas for this link.  Across the nation, failing condo projects have been placed in the hands of court appointed receivers who are supposed to make good decisions to get the projects back on their feet, if possible.  Here is one story of a situation where the receiver and  the owners are in major conflict, with allegations that the receiver isn't doing his job.

The Fossum Files--don't miss this!

Would  you like  to read  the most detailed and persuasive analysis of double taxation and differential political  participation of CID owners ever written?  Donna Fossum has just posted it, and it should be read by every policy maker involved in these issuess.  Donna Fossum, J.D., Ph.D., describes herself as follows:  "The author has lived in the West End of the City of Alexandria for over 30 years.  For 23 of these years, she was a member of Alexandria’s Planning Commission.  Professionally, she spent the better part of two decades as a Senior Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation.  She also spent close to a decade as an attorney on what is now the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives and shorter stints as an attorney in the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget and a Senior Advisor in what is now the Science and Engineering Statistics Division of the National Science Foundation."

And here is a brief  summary of her detailed empirical analysis---

"This is an analysis of the unforeseen consequences of the City of Alexandria, Virginia privatizing many services that it has traditionally provided to its homeowners.  Alexandria was first settled in the mid-1700s and over the years has been home to the likes of George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors.  Today, after three major annexations of land in 1915, 1930, and 1952, Alexandria now occupies 15.6 square miles directly across the Potomac River from the District of Columbia and is home to an estimated 142,000 people, making it one of the more densely populated cities in the United States.1  On a functional basis, however, Alexandria today is two separate “cities” of relatively equal physical size and population that differ markedly in community structure and political influence.  In one of these “cities,” the average homeowner pays their taxes and receives all their services from City Hall.  In the other “city,” the average homeowner pays their taxes, but receives only some of their services from City Hall."


Here are two links to the page, in case one doesn't work:
http://fossumfiles.org

http://fossumfiles.org.s122990.gridserver.com

"Condos on the road back"

Thanks to Fred Pilot for this story of one Florida condo development that went through the great recession and seems to be coming out of it, mainly because property values are rising again. The human misery that is referenced thoughout the story is something to consider, especially when you multiply it by tens of thousands of condo projects where many hard working people lost everything. The real estate industry is desperate to get us all buying again, so I think the pressure is on the real estate press to crank up the boosterism again.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20150404/article/150409874?p=1&tc=pg

Nevada state legislator proposes to repeal all HOA and condo laws

Ira Hansen, a far-right Nevada state legislator, has introduced a bill through his control of the judiciary committee that would repeal all the Nevada statutes that regulate common interest housing. This article explains that the intent is to somehow magically have somebody else do this, because the state legislature can't be bothered.  This proposal is so dumb that only somebody of Hansen's caliber could have produced it.  Nevada has a fairly comprehensive set of laws on HOAs and condos, and all of it was put in place to deal with real problems.  Now Hansen wants to scrap the whole thing.

http://www.scrippsmedia.com/ktnv/news/Nevada-lawmakers-aim-to-delegate-HOA-disputes-to-lower-level-298479291.html

You can read up on Hansen at Wikipedia. He's a piece of work. Former right wing radio talk show host and columnist.  Here's a taste:
"In his columns, Hansen has written that the Oklahoma City bombing was a false flag operation orchestrated by the administration of President Clinton, that women do not belong in the United States Armed Forces, that President Obama is a "negro", that he owns and flies a Confederate battle flag, that gays are disproportionally prone to engaging in child abuse, that a "grossly disproportionate" number of crimes are committed by Latinos, and that the relationship between "Negroes and Democrats" is that of a "master-slave relationship with the benevolent master knowing what’s best for his simple minded darkies."

Mandatory water restrictions for California

HOA boards take heed. You will allow your inmates to let their lawns turn brown. You will allow lawns to be turned into drought resistant landscape and even hardscape. At least until California makes up its 11 trillion gallon water deficit. And yes, you read that right.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/01/us/california-water-restrictions-drought/

Drones present opportunity, challenge for community associations - Chicago Tribune

Drones present opportunity, challenge for community associations - Chicago Tribune



Drones in the hands of condo and HOA boards?  What could possibly go wrong?



"In the not-too-distant future, community associations could launch camera-equipped, unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones, for many routine tasks. They will be able to examine buildings for leaks and damage, check on the performances of contractors and find illegal barbecue grills on upper balconies."

TEPCO not paying for Fukushima cleanup

This is how capitalism works.  Corporations make profits and get to keep them.   Corporations generate huge "externalities," meaning massive costs that hurt others, but those costs get socialized.  In this case, the gigantic utility company that caused the Fukushima catastrophe--which is far from over--has fobbed off the cleanup cost onto  local governments.

"TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. has only shouldered 2 percent of the 76.1 billion yen ($638.8 million) spent on radiation decontamination operations conducted by municipality offices since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, Environment Ministry officials said Sunday. The operator of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has effectively refused to cover the costs of removing radioactive soil and other waste incurred by local governments in areas affected by the disaster, saying it is confirming whether such payments are required by law."

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150330p2g00m0dm031000c.html

Homeowners face HOA fines for children playing in driveway and on sidewalk

No, really.  It's true.  Having solved all other problems, this HOA has decided to prevent children from playing.  Why would anybody, with children or not, live in a place like this?


 "Some Chula Vista homeowners contacted Team 10, furious that their homeowners association is fining them if their children are caught playing outside on the driveway or sidewalk. Under the Agave and Saguaro HOA's rules, there are no wheeled toys -- including, but not limited to, bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, skateboards or roller skates -- allowed to be ridden in the HOA's common areas. Common areas include driveways, sidewalks and streets in the complex. According to the property manager, it's for safety reasons, but resident Karen Deviolini said, "You're fined because you live in a place where kids can't be kids."

http://www.10news.com/news/investigations/chula-vista-homeowners-face-hoa-fines-for-children-playing-on-driveway-sidewalk

Is suburban sprawl stifling the US economy?

This Vox article references a number of studies that suggest the answer may be "yes."


http://www.vox.com/2015/3/26/8291889/suburban-sprawl-economy

What is the most private city in the world?

London?  Dubai?  The new cities in the US that are comprised of private, gated communities?

"The word “private” is derived from the ancient Greek word idiotes, which means somebody who does not participate in public life. In ancient Greece, private life was confined to the home; the public, democratic life of citizens took place in the polis or city, and in the agora or assembly. The contemporary gated community, which focuses on privatising the experience of home as much as possible, fits well within this classical definition of private. There are literally millions of people living in gated communities: they have become the model of choice in the many societies around the world that are subject to extreme wealth inequalities."



http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/mar/26/what-most-private-city-world

How Wall Street used swaps to get rich at the expense of cities

Thanks to a helpful correspondent for flagging this.  Since the late 1970s cities have been trying to find ways to compensate for lost revenue sources.  The property tax revolt, suburbanization, loss of federal grants in aid, globalization of the economy, and other forces have left many cities in  precarious condition. CIDs are one of those compensation strategies.  And here is another one:  cities are getting hooked up with Wall Street investment banks that promise to create gains by engaging in interest rate swaps.  For example,  a city has outstanding fixed rate municipal bonds, and an investment bank--Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, or another one of these financial vampires--proposes to swap them for variable rate bonds that are linked to LIBOR or some other index, that pays the bond holders a lower interest rate.  Sounds good, right?  Except that local governments have been known to lose  a fortune doing it.  Chicago, led by former Wall Streeter and now Mayor Rahm Emanuel,  is in deep on these swaps.  Emanuel thinks he's smarter than everybody. But the swaps aren't turing out  to be such a good deal. Here's a detailed article taking the whole thing apart. 

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/03/getting-rich-expense-cities.html#comments

And for the worst case scenario, consider Jefferson County, Alabama.   After a series of swaps orchestrated by J. P. Morgan to pay for a new sewer system, they went bankrupt.   Until Detroit, it  was the largest local government bankruptcy in US history.

Condo requiring DNA samples of all pets so they can test their poop!

"The Rotunda, a condominium building in Tyson's Corner, Virginia has implemented a policy in which all new pet owners who are moving into the building will be required to have their animal's mouths swabbed in the presence of a building authority. If pet waste is discovered outside of the building, the waste will then be tested and matched up to the guilty animal's DNA."
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Actually this nonsense has been going on for some time.  Obviously people should clean up after their dogs, but somehow in my HOA-free neighborhood everybody nearly always does.  Now there are companies peddling this silly service and of course all the costs end up falling on the owner of the miscreant dog.  Increasingly life for the American middle class is one boondoggle after another--red light cameras, usurious loans, grifting cable TV companies, fake calls threatening IRS suits, and of course chiseling condo associations and HOAs.

http://www.mrctv.org/blog/apartment-building-require-dna-samples-all-pets#tmhmdj:pDFL