General Discussion

madfloridian

(88,117 posts) Tue Apr 2, 2013, 10:08 PM Apr 2013

Only in Florida? City Considering Easing Up on Spitting Ordinance

Commissioners considered removing the 1944 ordinance.

Commissioners heard in a first reading on Monday about a new ordinance that would make spitting a civil infraction instead of a misdemeanor.

That means Lakeland police will be able to write a $100 ticket to spitters.

Commissioners will vote on the changes to the ordinance on April 15. If passed, the new ordinance would be effective that day.

City Attorney Tim McCausland made some additional changes to the ordinance, enacted in 1944. The ordinance currently says it is unlawful for anyone to spit in front of or on a bus, a public conveyance, a sidewalk, a public building or any other public place within the city limits.

One commissioner pushed about this saying ""Anything so you don't have a kid getting 60 days in jail for spitting on the sidewalk"

Here is more background on this subject. In my mind this sort of fits into the pre-crime scenario...the suspicion that someone is going to do something wrong. This is a college community, so someone out walking late should not be a surprise.

Man Arrested for Spitting on Sidewalk

Insomniac Joseph Stoiber, 29, was walking in his neighborhood when he couldn't sleep at 2:30 a.m. May 30, talking to his friend on the phone about baseball.

Lakeland police Officer Tyler Anderson saw him in the community near Florida Southern College and stopped him. After asking Stoiber what he was doing, Anderson asked to pat him down.

...."According to internal reports, Officer Nicholas Ivancevich arrived within 1½ minutes after Anderson made contact with Stoiber. When Ivancevich arrived, Stoiber was already in custody and handcuffed.

Ivancevich, who didn't initially know what Stoiber was charged with, also happened to spit into the grass as he was getting out of his car, according to internal reports.