2008 Woodie Awards
Students ask Oxford City Council to rethink litter, trashcan penalties
Dave Matthews
Issue date: 11/16/07 Section: Campus
If a proposed city amendment to city ordinance 521.08 remains unchanged after city council's meeting next Tuesday, then those charged with not picking up their party litter will still be slapped with a level four misdemeanor on a first offense, the same penalty as possessing a small amount of marijuana.
However, Associated Student Government (ASG) passed a resolution Tuesday, unanimously urging city council to take another look at the penalties before voting. Currently a fourth degree misdemeanor is an offense that goes on a criminal record and requires a lawyer to expunge-a serious penalty according to ASG's Secretary for Off-Campus Affairs
Jen House.
"We don't want people going to law school having to explain (that) they got arrested for littering because my friends forgot to clean up after a party and I was the first to open the door because I wasn't passed out,"
she said.
Currently as the ordinance stands, it states that any "unsightly" litter should be charged with a fourth degree misdemeanor, in addition to a fine. City council will be debating Tuesday if this misdemeanor should be removed-and ASG is urging them
to do so.
Also at the city council meeting Tuesday will be a second reading of another amendment to the litter ordinance, in regards to the placement of trashcans in the city. This amendment would include a provision that trashcans in the Oxford community be prohibited from being placed in front yards or directly adjacent to a front porch or walkway-and if passed Tuesday, it could become a fourth degree misdemeanor offense as well.
House and others who wrote the resolution said that they weren't going to tell Oxford how to regulate trashcans, but do want the penalties eased for first-time littering offenses. And city councilmember Alysia Fischer, who is behind the amendment, said that even though there is a problem with trashcans in Oxford, she expects the penalty of a fourth degree misdemeanor for the trashcan amendment to change.
"This isn't just for students, this is for the whole community," Fischer said. "If people leave their trash cans out, they're not going to get a fourth degree misdemeanor."
Several senators at Tuesday's ASG meeting expressed frustration the severity of a fourth degree misdemeanor for these types of charges.
Fischer said it is most likely that the offenses for littering will be divided into two categories: one for more serious violations and another for less severe infractions of the
city code.
"We're not intending to change how people use their trashcans," she said. "And it's not like the problem has been increasing, but it is a problem."
However, Associated Student Government (ASG) passed a resolution Tuesday, unanimously urging city council to take another look at the penalties before voting. Currently a fourth degree misdemeanor is an offense that goes on a criminal record and requires a lawyer to expunge-a serious penalty according to ASG's Secretary for Off-Campus Affairs
Jen House.
"We don't want people going to law school having to explain (that) they got arrested for littering because my friends forgot to clean up after a party and I was the first to open the door because I wasn't passed out,"
she said.
Currently as the ordinance stands, it states that any "unsightly" litter should be charged with a fourth degree misdemeanor, in addition to a fine. City council will be debating Tuesday if this misdemeanor should be removed-and ASG is urging them
to do so.
Also at the city council meeting Tuesday will be a second reading of another amendment to the litter ordinance, in regards to the placement of trashcans in the city. This amendment would include a provision that trashcans in the Oxford community be prohibited from being placed in front yards or directly adjacent to a front porch or walkway-and if passed Tuesday, it could become a fourth degree misdemeanor offense as well.
House and others who wrote the resolution said that they weren't going to tell Oxford how to regulate trashcans, but do want the penalties eased for first-time littering offenses. And city councilmember Alysia Fischer, who is behind the amendment, said that even though there is a problem with trashcans in Oxford, she expects the penalty of a fourth degree misdemeanor for the trashcan amendment to change.
"This isn't just for students, this is for the whole community," Fischer said. "If people leave their trash cans out, they're not going to get a fourth degree misdemeanor."
Several senators at Tuesday's ASG meeting expressed frustration the severity of a fourth degree misdemeanor for these types of charges.
Fischer said it is most likely that the offenses for littering will be divided into two categories: one for more serious violations and another for less severe infractions of the
city code.
"We're not intending to change how people use their trashcans," she said. "And it's not like the problem has been increasing, but it is a problem."
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