Criminal Charges Over Mich. Woman's Front-Yard Vegetable Garden Are Dropped
Misdemeanor criminal charges against an Oak Park, Mich., woman who grew vegetables in raised beds in her front yard were dropped on Wednesday.
But Julie Bass, who had been looking at a July 26 trial, didn’t find that out until her lawyer went to court Thursday to file a motion to dismiss the charges, the Detroit News reported.
“It was kind of like in the darkness of the night somebody went to find a judge at home in his pajamas and said, ‘Please dismiss this,’ ” Jason Bass, Julie’s husband, told the Detroit News. “It was so strange.”
In recent weeks, Bass had gained a number of supporters through her blog, oakparkhatesveggies, as well as Facebook page she started about her case (which has more than 29,000 fans). Bass’ lawyer, Solomon Radner, told the Detroit News that the city dropped the case to get out of the international spotlight.
City prosecutor Eugene Lumberg told the Detroit News that he dropped the citation. “I want to look at it, I want to see the facts, I want to see where this vegetable garden is going and make a determination of whether or not to prosecute under the existing ordinance, write a new ordinance and [examine] the public welfare.”
