← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Gabrielle
Thread ID: 17829 | Posts: 19 | Started: 2005-04-18
2005-04-18 02:24 | User Profile
"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- An Orange County judge handed down an unusual sentence for a woman accused of yelling anti-Semitic comments at her Jewish neighbor.
Geraldine Ballard wasn't charged with a crime. What happened in court Thursday will not show up on her record unless she violates the conditions of her probation.
Orange County judge Mike Murphy handled the sensitive case by drafting a creative sentence for Ballard. Ballard is accused of threatening Lisa Green and her children by shouting derogatory remarks at them as they walked in front of her property on their way to the Jewish Community Center in Maitland.
"I truly have to say, the system worked, it really worked," said Green.
The judge sentenced Ballard to 180 days of probation with the condition she either serve 50 hours of community service or visit one of three holocaust museums in Washington DC, St. Petersburg or the Jewish Community Center located in her own neighborhood.
Ballard has denied the accusations against her all along and Thursday she refused to talk about the conditions of her probation.
Ballard must also undergo a mental health evaluation. If she fails to comply, she'll be back in court where she could be criminally charged.
Ballard will have to pay $250 in court costs and she cannot have any contact with Green and her family."
[url]http://www.wftv.com/news/4379642/detail.html[/url]
2005-04-18 02:55 | User Profile
ive been reading about these kinds of legal precedents being played out in the UK, but not here, at least not yet to my knowledge. this is the first of these kinds of headlines that im aware of.
2005-04-18 03:16 | User Profile
I wonder how many of us will have to go to a doctor because we don't like Jews, and the funny part will be that the Jews will be the doctors....hummm I wonder how many of us will be sent to the nut house.
I now know that all those secret camps that the US are building are nothing more than nut houses.
2005-04-18 03:21 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Gabrielle]"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- An Orange County judge handed down an unusual sentence for a woman accused of yelling anti-Semitic comments at her Jewish neighbor.
Geraldine Ballard wasn't charged with a crime. What happened in court Thursday will not show up on her record unless she violates the conditions of her probation.
Orange County judge Mike Murphy handled the sensitive case by drafting a creative sentence for Ballard. Ballard is accused of threatening Lisa Green and her children by shouting derogatory remarks at them as they walked in front of her property on their way to the Jewish Community Center in Maitland.
"I truly have to say, the system worked, it really worked," said Green.
The judge sentenced Ballard to 180 days of probation with the condition she either serve 50 hours of community service or visit one of three holocaust museums in Washington DC, St. Petersburg or the Jewish Community Center located in her own neighborhood. [/QUOTE] This sounds like a violation of some certain basic constitutional rights. How can she be sentenced if she hasn't even been charged with a crime?
2005-04-18 08:24 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Okiereddust]This sounds like a violation of some certain basic constitutional rights. How can she be sentenced if she hasn't even been charged with a crime?[/QUOTE]
That's my thought. This just sounds funny:
*Geraldine Ballard wasn't charged with a crime. What happened in court Thursday will not show up on her record unless she violates the conditions of her probation. *
Probation implies conviction. Conviction implies tried. Tried implies indictment. Indictment implies charged. Charged implies accused. How do you get from accused to probation without passing through those other steps... and... what record?!? :glare:
2005-04-18 08:44 | User Profile
This sounds like a violation of some certain basic constitutional rights. How can she be sentenced if she hasn't even been charged with a crime? That's what I was wondering. Hell, why did she even have to appear in court as a defendant if she wasn't charged with a crime? What on earth is going on here? :angry:
2005-04-18 08:53 | User Profile
Can she appeal his verdict?
2005-04-18 09:44 | User Profile
Someone must have traduced Joseph K. for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one morning.
The article must be mistaken in, or sloppy with, its facts. I'm sure even in post-Constitutional USA someone can't be convicted without first being charged with a crime.
2005-04-19 00:22 | User Profile
I would not be suprised- We are facing the continuing fighting the state of moral values in this country-
The libs had a nice slap across the face when they tried to press gay marriage in 11 states .......
But once in a while - liberality exlpodes- and now free speech is under attack-
When you think about it- free speech is a funny thing- people are almost afraid to say what is on their mind-
I live in a town (if you have a sense of humor about these things)...in which the average home price is 230,000 now.....the funny thing is that if I could relocate my house a mile down the road- I would gain 350,000 in value to my home ...why?
Well, we have a school system that is stacked with minorities- the town is 60% white (and increasing thank God- taxes are a great thing) 40% minority- however, our schools are 99% minority populated-
Our scores are in the proverbial toilet (state scores) and people are asking the great question ...why? We pay our teachers well- they are ll certified- we have current technology- virtually no crime in town- hmmm.... and no one will say what the problem is
Bill Cosby did - and look at what the black community did to him
I am not an ignorant racist- i do believe that whites should be proud of their race and should call a spade a spade (no pun intended)...we are getting the short end of the stick in too many places now (education and employment)....
I think that there is good in bad in all races- but God- some people are killing the value of my home.....
2005-04-19 02:04 | User Profile
isnt this rather new for the US ? i mean, being accused of anti-semitic remarks or other "derogatory remarks" is not something that has been used in legal cases before has it ? ive been reading that this sort of thing can get you jail time in the UK, but not here, at least not until now. Am i wrong ?
2005-04-19 09:47 | User Profile
There has been some interesting information uncovered on [URL=http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_crime&Number=293532936&page=&view=&sb=&o=&part=1&vc=1&t=0]this[/URL] Liberty Forum thread, apparently Ballard has had problems with the nearby Jewish community centre and raised the issue at local government level.
2005-04-19 11:30 | User Profile
[QUOTE=na Gaeil is gile]There has been some interesting information uncovered on [URL=http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_crime&Number=293532936&page=&view=&sb=&o=&part=1&vc=1&t=0]this[/URL] Liberty Forum thread, apparently Ballard has had problems with the nearby Jewish community centre and raised the issue at local government level.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I looked for a Liberty Forum thread and couldn't find it. Although actually it still doesn't shed any light on the interesting legal situation. And its a typical vacuous LF thread in general.
Who knows though. Lawyers always find a loophole somewhere. Next thing you know they'll be finding a reason to torture her - probably part of of her psychiatric therapy "adverse therapy/negative feedback" or whatever.
This woman apparently though just was an ordinary woman who had some run-ins with bad neighbors. Can you imagine what would have happened if she'd been in a non-PC group to begin with?
2005-04-19 13:01 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Ponce]I wonder how many of us will have to go to a doctor because we don't like Jews, and the funny part will be that the Jews will be the doctors....hummm I wonder how many of us will be sent to the nut house.
I now know that all those secret camps that the US are building are nothing more than nut houses.[/QUOTE]
True about the jewish doctors, Ponce. [laugh]. So far as the secret camps, the whole US is the camp.
2005-04-19 13:04 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Okiereddust]Who knows though. Lawyers always find a loophole somewhere. Next thing you know they'll be finding a reason to torture her - probably part of of her psychiatric therapy "adverse therapy/negative feedback" or whatever.
This woman apparently though just was an ordinary woman who had some run-ins with bad neighbors. Can you imagine what would have happened if she'd been in a non-PC group to begin with?[/QUOTE] Government bureaucrats increasingly do what they feel is right, not what the law says they can do.
2005-04-19 17:13 | User Profile
[url]http://www.itsmymaitland.com/council_minutes042803.asp[/url]
[QUOTE]Mayor Rizzo opened the Public Period.
Mrs. Gerry Ballard, 150 Sandspur Road, spoke regarding the problems she has been encountering in her neighborhood: the underground power installation at the Jewish Community Center (they drove through her yard/over her water meter); the Doctors' office next to her residence does not have adequate parking and their patients park their cars in her front yard; and, further, their dumpster is being emptied at 4:00 AM disturbing her peace. When she reported these instances to the City, nothing was done. She stated she is not going to have her property destroyed and cannot continue to cope with such issues.
There being no one else who wished to be heard, Mayor Rizzo closed the Public Period. [/QUOTE]
2005-04-19 17:21 | User Profile
Ballard was in fact charged. "Initially, Maitland police recommended that Ballard be charged with felony stalking, but prosecutors charged her with disorderly conduct instead."
[URL=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-ororslur17041705apr17,1,5278644.story?coll=orl-]a REAL article[/URL]
[QUOTE]Green encountered Ballard on three occasions last year while walking her children to the Jewish Community Center. Green said Ballard had directed slurs at her family.
Ballard, 77, entered a no-contest plea for disorderly conduct in the case. Adjudication was withheld, which means she won't have a criminal conviction on her record.
A Maitland police report and Lisa Green said that Ballard called the Green family "trash" and "dirty Jews" while Green was walking her two children to the community center.
Ballard also approached the Greens with a broomstick and followed them closely as they crossed the street in front of her property on Sandspur Road. Green and the reports describe three incidents involving Ballard.
When a Maitland police officer approached Ballard to investigate, she said, "Jews need to stay off my property" and she called Maitland police "Jew lovers," according to the police report.
Geraldine Ballard did not comment after Thursday's sentencing, but her son, Jim Ballard, said they are considering an appeal. He said the dispute has been "blown so far out of proportion" and referred to Thursday's court proceedings as "theatrics and politics."
The case could have been handled better, he said, through some kind of noncriminal court mediation.
Jim Ballard noted that his mother has been outspoken on certain issues in the city, including those concerning the JCC, but he said her concerns should not be viewed as hatred of Jewish people.
As for the incidents involving Green and her family, Jim Ballard said it did not sound like language his mother would use.
"It was not meant as hatred or bitterness," he said. "There's no harboring of ill will whatsoever because of their ethnic background."
Jim Ballard said he doesn't foresee future confrontations between his mother and the Greens. "She [Lisa Green] should feel as free today as she did before any of these incidents she says happened," he said.
Initially, Maitland police recommended that Ballard be charged with felony stalking, but prosecutors charged her with disorderly conduct instead.
After the encounters, Lisa Green stopped walking by Ballard's property. Green maintains that she never walked on Ballard's property and used the sidewalk.
On Thursday, Green said she was satisfied with the outcome of the case and considered it an important lesson for her 6-year-old son, who witnessed the encounters with Ballard.
"We don't want to teach our children to run away," Green said. "We want them to be proud of their heritage and of who we are. What happened was wrong."
Green said if she had done nothing, it would have been the same as letting "hateful people win." Instead, taking the case to court proved the legal system can work, she said. Green called it one of the "most grown-up things" she and her husband have had to do.
As part of the sentence, Ballard must pay court costs and undergo a mental-health evaluation and treatment, if needed.
Green said she told Ballard in court Thursday, "We pray for you."
Anthony Colarossi can be reached at [email]acolarossi@orlandosentinel.com[/email] or 407-420-6218.[/QUOTE]
2005-04-19 17:25 | User Profile
[QUOTE=SteamshipTime]Government bureaucrats increasingly do what they feel is right, not what the law says they can do.[/QUOTE]Not to mention judges.
2005-04-19 17:35 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Okiereddust]Not to mention judges.[/QUOTE]
Leftist judges
2005-04-19 19:12 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Gabrielle]Leftist judges[/QUOTE]What about judges appointed by pubbies - Kennedy, O'Connor, Souter? You really think Shrubby will do any better?