{"id":109620,"date":"2014-03-18T20:28:35","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T20:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agovernmentofwolves.com\/?p=398"},"modified":"2014-03-18T20:28:35","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T20:28:35","slug":"challenging-march-18-compliance-deadline-tri-files-notice-of-appeal-on-behalf-of-florida-homeowner-cited-for-living-off-the-grid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/challenging-march-18-compliance-deadline-tri-files-notice-of-appeal-on-behalf-of-florida-homeowner-cited-for-living-off-the-grid\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging March 18 Compliance Deadline, TRI Files Notice of Appeal on Behalf of Florida Homeowner Cited for Living \u2018Off the Grid\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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CAPE CORAL, Fla. \u2013 Challenging a March 18 compliance deadline issued by a Florida magistrate, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a notice of appeal on behalf of a Florida homeowner who was charged with violating city code provisions because of her refusal to hook up to city water and electrical resources, choosing instead to live sustainably \u201coff the grid.\u201d Cape Coral homeowner Robin Speronis was ordered to hook her home up to city water, electrical, and sewer outlets by March 18, 2014\u2013despite the fact that she has been self-sustainable for more than a year\u2013or face $50 daily fines for noncompliance. Believing that property owners have a certain amount of sovereignty over what takes place on their own property, The Rutherford Institute has come to Speronis\u2019 defense. A hearing date on the Special Magistrate\u2019s compliance order is set for April 17, 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened to Robin Speronis should never have happened, and yet it is happening every day, to more and more Americans,\u201d said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of\u00a0A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State<\/em><\/span><\/a>. \u201cIndeed, cases such as Robin\u2019s are becoming increasingly common as overzealous government officials routinely enforce laws that penalize Americans for living off the grid, hosting a Bible study in one\u2019s backyard, growing organic vegetables in one\u2019s front yard, feeding wild animals, and collecting rainwater, to name just a few. Unfortunately, this disregard for private property by government officials brings us full circle, back to that pre-Revolutionary era when colonists had few to no rights whatsoever within their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For many months now, Robin Speronis, who doesn\u2019t have a refrigerator, oven, running water or electricity in her home, has lived self-sustainably through the use of solar panels for her electricity needs and rainwater collection for her water supply. Speronis cooks on a propane camping stove, runs her electronics on solar-charged batteries, showers using a camping shower, and collects rainwater to fill the tank of her toilet and flush the waste. However, a day after Speronis was interviewed for a story about living \u201coff the grid,\u201d a city code enforcement official came to her home and issued her an eviction notice, deeming her home \u201cunsafe\/unfit for human habitation and occupancy\u201d because she was living there without utilities. The city official reached this conclusion without ever having set foot inside Speronis\u2019 home or carrying out any kind of inspection. Although city officials have since clarified that \u201cmunicipalities don\u2019t have the power to evict,\u201d the city has maintained its insistence that Speronis comply with an international property maintenance code and city ordinances or face daily fines.<\/p>\n

Determined to maintain her independence, Speronis fought back, challenging the city code provisions that required her to hook up to and use city utilities. On February 21, 2014, Special Magistrate Harold S. Eskin determined that Speronis was not guilty of violating the city codes requiring electrical and sewer systems, but that she\u00a0was<\/em>\u00a0required under the codes to hook up to the city\u2019s water system. In reaching this decision, Eskin admitted that portions of the code \u201cmight be obsolete,\u201d that \u201creasonableness and code requirements don\u2019t always go hand-in-hand,\u201d and that societal and technological developments might suggest that it\u2019s time for a review of code ordinances. Nonetheless, the Magistrate ordered Speronis to comply with the faulty and inherently conflicting code provisions by the end of March. City officials have since capped Speronis\u2019 access to the sewer line so she can no longer use it for waste removal unless she pays for water service, which she does not use. Speronis, who lived in the woods for seven months, plans to use an alternative toilet and dispose of her waste in a sanitary way, rather than be forced to use the city\u2019s sewer system.<\/p>\n

More details at www.rutherford.or<\/a>g.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Challenging a March 18 compliance deadline issued by a Florida magistrate, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have filed a notice of appeal on behalf of a Florida homeowner who was charged with violating city code provisions because of her refusal to hook up to city water and electrical resources, choosing instead […]\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1243,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-109620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorials"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}