Top Massachusetts court weighs whether homeless break law by fleeing cold

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Top Massachusetts court weighs whether homeless break law by fleeing cold
Reuters
By Scott Malone
8 minutes ago

BOSTON (Reuters) - The question of whether a homeless person breaks the law by trespassing onto private property to escape dangerously cold temperatures is one best answered by a jury, not a judge, Massachusetts civil liberties advocates argued on Monday.

The state's top court on Monday heard arguments by lawyers for David Magadini, a 67-year-old homeless man, who was repeatedly arrested by police in Great Barrington, in the state's hilly west, for sleeping in a mixed-use commercial building during the winter of 2014.

The lawyers argued that the judge who heard Magadini's case erred by not instructing jurors that the man could make a "necessity" defense, which can excuse a person for a reasonable violation of a law to preserve his or her life.

"At the time of the offenses, Mr. Magadini had no effective legal alternatives," to seeking shelter in the Barrington House development, which houses restaurants, shops and offices, said Jessie Rossman, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who spoke on Magadini's behalf.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/top-massachusetts-court-weighs-whether-homeless-break-law-203856783--finance.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Right. What we want is for him to be...

law-abiding and dead.

[Judi Lynn]

7. If he only had a gun he could shoot the weather for trying to freeze him to death. Self-defense.

There are a million ways he could kill someone while claiming he's trying to protect himself, but they all involve having a gun.

He's not allowed to protect himself from freezing.

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. Tax the Economic Royalists so everyone can have shelter.

[MosheFeingold]

3. When I was briefly a beat cop in NYC

We would ask homeless if they would like to be "arrested" for pan-handling or vagrancy (which were crimes at the time).

They generally agreed in return for a warm bed, shower, hot dinner, and breakfast.

Generally (but not always) did a background check for warrants, but never a real ticket or fine.

Of course, back then, they were not overwhelmingly mentally ill as is the case today.

[blackspade]

10. "Of course, back then, they were not overwhelmingly mentally ill as is the case today"

Neither were the cops apparently.

[msongs]

4. he should a gone to one of those welcoming churches.... nt

[tazkcmo]

5. F*ck the poor and especially the homeless!

No parks! Those are for the gainfully employed only! I really hate it when they use their dirty change to ride the bus so they won't freeze to death. How friggin' selfish they are! Why don't they get a job? None of them take showers or even comb their hair. Why don't they just go home?











sarcasm

[gregcrawford]

6. I grew up in a town...

... right next to Great Barrington, and lived in the town for a while. Years ago Barrin'tn, as it is known locally, had the most vicious police force in southern Berkshire County, and a cop named Shea, who shot a kid brandishing a snowball in an alley behind the Mahaiwe Theater back in the early sixties (Tommy lived), later became the Chief. I doubt law enforcement in Great Barrington has improved much.

I pity those who are down and out there. The next town to the north on US 7 is Stockbridge, of Alice's Restaurant fame. Officer Obie later became chief there, and he was a world-class prick, too.

[Helen Borg]

8. Righto, they should just freeze to death.

[blackspade]

9. Do DAs have no common sense these days?

So he should have just frozen to death?
We are a sick society for criminalizing the helpless.

[happyslug]

11. Here are the briefs in this case

SJC-11874
Commonwealth vs. David Magadini
Whether, and how, the defense of necessity applies in the case of a homeless individual who trespasses on private property in order to find safe shelter in winter conditions; and to what extent must one go in such circumstances to pursue legal alternatives to trespass.

http://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/display_docket.php?dno=SJC-11874

Brief of the Defendant:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/SJC-11874_01_Appellant_Magadini_Brief.pdf

Brief of the ACLU, An Amicus Curie Brief in favor of the Defendant:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/SJC-11874_04_Amicus_ACLU_Of_MA_Brief.pdf

The Brief for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/phmen/My%20Documents/Downloads/SJC-11874_03_Appellee_Commonwealth_Brief.pdf

I just love the Commonwealth position, since the Defendant did not do any of the following:
1. Seek an apartment outside of Barrington
2. Did not tell the police he was freezing and seek what relief they could provide
3. Did not go to the homeless shelter, that had previously kicked him out.

And thus no grounds to claim an emergency.