Thread: Halloween Lawsuit

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Okay, so I was looking around, and I saw this article. It is about a family that parked an RV on their lot. The neighbors got irritated by it, and created an ordinance that made the owners park the RV elsewhere. The owners put out tombstones that had the names of their neighbors and silly epitaphs on them. The neighbors filed a lawsuit against the owners of the RV. The outcome was not posted, but what do you think should have happned? Were the tombstones too harsh, or were they just having fun? HERE IS THE FULL ARTICLE:


"Jeffrey and Vicki Purtell owned a large recreational vehicle—38 feet long and 12 feet high—and for a while stored it at a rental-storage facility. In 2001, however, they fell on hard financial times and parked it on the driveway of their home in the Village of Bloomingdale, Illinois. There it sat for more than a year.

The Purtells’ neighbors were unhappy but tolerated the presence of this eyesore, at least initially. Their patience eventually wore thin, however, and they complained to the Village of Bloomingdale. There was little the Village could do because the Purtells were not violating any existing laws. Several of the neighbors then took matters into their own hands and started a petition drive urging the Village to adopt an ordinance banning homeowners from storing RVs on their property. This effort was ultimately successful. In late November 2002, the Village Board enacted an ordinance prohibiting the storage of RVs on residential property. The Purtells eventually complied with the ordinance and moved their RV, but not before making a crude retaliatory statement to their complaining neighbors. While the RV ordinance was still under consideration by the Village Board, the Purtells erected six wooden tombstones on their front lawn. It was mid-October and Halloween was coming, but the tombstones were not mere seasonal decorations; they carried a message for the neighbors who had pressed for the RV ordinance. Five of the six tombstones referred to a specific complaining neighbor followed by a short inscription describing the neighbor’s death. To be more specific, each tombstone was about three feet tall, and they were placed about five feet from the sidewalk, facing the street.

The tombstones were inscribed with epitaphs, in doggerel verse, directed at the neighbors who had petitioned for the RV ordinance. All but one referred to particular neighbors by name and specified a year of death corresponding to the neighbor’s street address, plus one additional number. For example, a tombstone referring to John Berka, who resides at 188 Jackson Lane, was inscribed as follows:

Old John Burkuh
Said he didn’T give a care
So They buried hiM
aLive uP To his hair.
He couLdn’T breath
So now we’re relieved
Of ThaT NasTy oLd jerk!
~ 1888 ~

The remaining tombstones read as follows:

~ 1610 ~
Dyean was Known for Lying
So She was Fried.
Now underneath these daisies
is where she goes crazy!!

~ 1680 ~
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
There’s stiLL some space
Waiting for you!

BeTTe wAsN’T ReaDy,
BuT here she Lies
Ever since thAt night She DieD,
12 Feet deep in this trench. . .
Still wAsn’T Deep enough
For thAt wenches STench!
~ 1690 ~

Here Lies Jimmy,
The OlD Towne IDiot.
MeAn As sin even withouT his Gin.
No LonGer Does he wear
that sTupiD Old Grin. . .
Oh no, noT where
they’ve sent Him!
~ 1690 ~

OLd Man CrimP was a
GimP who couldn’t hear.
SLiced his wife from ear To ear
She died. . .He was Fried.
Now They’re TogeTher
again side by side!
~ 1720

CrysTy wAs misTy-eyed
The DAy she DieD
AXE to the HeAD. . .
No DoubT She wAs DeAD.
Now There’s no more comPlain’n
Even When iT’s rain’n!
~ 1860 ~

These inscriptions referred to neighbors Diane Lesner, Betty Garbarz, James Garbarz, and a neighbor who owned a crimping shop. The “misty-eyed Crysty” referred to on the sixth tombstone was fictional; Jeff Purtell said he included this one to “balance out” the display.

The Purtells’ neighbors were upset by the tombstone display, and several called the Bloomingdale Police Department to report that they felt intimidated by it and wanted it removed. On October 18 police officers were dispatched to the neighborhood and attempted to persuade Jeff Purtell to take down the tombstones; he refused, but agreed to cover the names with duct tape. Halloween came and went, and still the tombstones remained. The simmering tension in the neighborhood eventually came to a boil on November 6, 2002, when the police were called because the duct tape had fallen off the tombstones and the names were visible again. Officer Bruce Mason and another officer went to the neighborhood to try once more to mediate the dispute. They spoke with Betty Garbarz and Diane Lesner, who told the officers they felt threatened by the display, which they saw as a means for Purtell to vent his anger over the dispute about his RV. The officers then went to the Purtell residence and met with Jeff Purtell, explaining the depth of his neighbors’ reaction to the tombstones. Purtell agreed to reapply the duct tape and came outside to do so. While he was reapplying the tape, Officer Mason asked him to take the tombstones down altogether. Officer Mason told Purtell the neighbors wanted him arrested because they felt threatened by the display. Purtell said that was not his intent."

If he was threatening them with printed words and was venting his anger, at least he wasn't actually smacking anyone around or worse.
Maybe those wonderfull neighbors had some guilt stirred up and didn't appreciate being made to feel guilty and reminded that they are nasty/stupid or just care too much about about the obscure things in life? (BTK, mass-murder ws a city inspector for grass length and other niddle-pickings, he loved his job)
Why didn't they just erect some tombstones in opposition to his?
This could have created a tourist attraction! All their kids could set up Kool-aid stands and make some money!
The Ford dealer here chewed out a talented but usually drunk bodyman, the bodyman vented by digging a grave in the dirt floor basement of the dealership and erecting a marker with the dealer's name on it!
The dealer laughed about it but said it did give him a weird feeling seeing his name there like that.
A few years ago a young woman said a certain young man in this town has the Father of her child.
He spray painted "It's Not Mine" across his house in letters about 4 feet high.
Paternity tests showed that he was right, so the girl spray painted across her mother's house in 4 ft. high letters "Thank God it's not a (his family name).
Her Mother's house was right on a busy highway, his house was down a side-street.

I love it when my neighbor parks his big RV in his yard because it makes for a great privacy fence. The town usually makes him move it to the street for some reason and then we have a problem seeing around it to back out of our driveway. Every halloween I plan on putting a bucky and flashing lights in it so our house will really be seen!

Hmmm....I'd have probably done much worse than tombstones.
And if I find out who called Codes to gripe about the van I had parked next to my fence, on the grass by the street(for 2 reasons, one, I'm trying to sell it, and its been 2 months without a nibble, and 2:its the only place left...the other vehicles take up the driveway and then some), I will include them in my display.
This touches home with me since I got the call from my landlord today about a codes letter.
You know, if cities arent going to make developers make driveways larger than a postage stamp, they shouldn't gripe about parking in our yard. You know, the LAND WE PAY TAXES ON?
In this case, I rent the land and the LL pays the tax, but still, I have 3 vehicles, and a trailer that I use for my business, and scant room for them. The 4th, well, it has to go somewhere until I find a buyer. But the letter screws me after that since I have to park the suv and trailer on the grass too, and the letter says it has to be on pavement or gravel. Guess I'm parking it on the street and see what happens.

I'm glad I live on a farm where I can park what ever I want where ever I want! The guy didn't threaten his neighbors with violence! I tell ya, as much as I love Halloween and would love to have TOTers, I never want to live in a neighborhood. I like being far away from people!

Several years ago we were going to Charlottesville (that's where we do most of our shopping) and we passed by a house that had "My wife is a *****" spray painted on the side of the shed. I guess somebody was a little ticked off at their wife!! Nobody lives in that house anymore and the siding of that shed has either been torn off or it has fallen off.

Since when does a printed word mean action. We live in a FREE country (I think). I am sorry but If I own a piece of property I should be allowed to park ,decorate,paint my property any way I want. I know everyone property value depends on its neighbors. Such is life. Personally I would have hoped that my name was spelled correctly on the tomb stone. It would take far more then tomb stones and a RV to get me mad enough to spoil a relationship with a neighbor. Even if I hated them. Life is far toooooo short to have it taken up with silly fights. We here is Eustis Florida have found after three huricane and two tornado's how valueable the people around us are. Total stranger who live on the same street stopped to see if everything was OK. Golf carts drove up and down helping any one who needed it. The neighbors should be pitching in to help decorate for halloween. Besides the best place for an enemy is next to you( so you can keep an eye on them).

Fascinating reading.

I'm sure those people probably felt "intimidated" by the display of the whimsical verse on the tombstones. However, there is literally nothing "threatening" about five of the six verses. The first one, about burying him alive, could be seen as a threat, and probably should have been removed. But the others were just upset that the people THEY targeted with a petition lashed back. The Purcell's rather clever skewer of the people who made their lives more difficult was and is 100% protected free speech, even if they did leave the tombstones up a week after Halloween.

Craig

Changing a law just to make life harder for your neighbor, because of an eyesore?

At least in Utah, we know how to treat the people that complain about that.

snopes.com: Middle Finger Cactus Vent Cover

Originally Posted by UnOrthodOx

snopes.com: Middle Finger Cactus Vent Cover

That's really funny. I should try that some time...

I met an elderly man in a city of 25,000 not far from here who has a very long driveway infront of his house BUT his city says no more than 2 cars may be parked there, even though he is trying to sell the one old classic .
He hired a law firm who specialises in code breaking.
They survey and document the enforcement of the code over a period of time, then go to court to show how unevenly enforced these "Nanny" code(s) are and then legally they must be removed from their books.
Of course success is spelled $uce$$ in this case. "Justice" is spelled with dollar signs too.