Oregon Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail -- for Collecting Rainwater on His Property

If you were just sitting there having your morning cup of coffee and NOT pissed off at the world you live in then
I can cure that.

link

A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater.

Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.) Circuit Court on nine misdemeanor charges under a 1925 law for having what state water managers called “three illegal reservoirs” on his property – and for filling the reservoirs with rainwater and snow runoff.

“The government is bullying,” Harrington told CNSNews.com in an interview Thursday.

“They’ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies. So, we as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we’ll prevail,” he said.

The court has given Harrington two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his sentence.

I am not quite sure what to think about this part.

Yet Paul admitted the 1925 law does apply because, he said, Harrington constructed dams to block a tributary to the Big Butte, which Medford uses for its water supply.

“There are dams across channels, water channels where the water would normally flow if it were not for the dam and so those dams are stopping the water from flowing in the channel and storing it- holding it so it cannot flow downstream,” Paul told CNSNews.com.

Harrington, however, argued in court that that he is not diverting water from Big Butte Creek, but the dams capturing the rainwater and snow runoff – or “diffused water” – are on his own property and that therefore the runoff does not fall under the jurisdiction of the state water managers, nor does it not violate the 1925 act.

Great attitude coming from this man I must say.
Would anyone REALLY blame him if he went postal though??
Really???

If this guy said "F it" Im taking out some important people at the local court house I certainly wouldn't hold it against him. Our government really needs to re evaluate laws like this. Good for this guy for keeping his cool though. Some people wouldn't be able to.

And I was thinking of moving there. I hear its a very liberal state though near Portland and not the Bend area.

Never been there, but I heard it is beautiful. If this is the kind of stuff that goes on there, count me out.



Good man- hes smart- I hear it rains a lot there. Thats probably why the govt is mad- they cant charge him for water. haha.

Bullies is right. WATER- GOD GIVEN RIGHT.

Between the legal costs, the court time and the imprisonment how much is this costing the government?

Is it worth it?

It is if they operate on the philosophy of maintaining control at all costs.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

If he really was making dams to stop the natural run off flow that's used by many then that can be argued. Collecting rain water should not be illegal, that's just another ridiculous make believe concept that some parts of nature can and should be illegal.

Now in theory, if he collected rain water for testing and found 100% proof of chemtrailing, he would then be arrested and the evidence thrown away and ignored? That's how I'd do it if I wanted to keep chemical agents being dumped from the sky a secret.

Originally posted by Common Good
And I was thinking of moving there. I hear its a very liberal state though near Portland and not the Bend area.

Never been there, but I heard it is beautiful. If this is the kind of stuff that goes on there, count me out.

Good man- hes smart- I hear it rains a lot there. Thats probably why the govt is mad- they cant charge him for water. haha.

Bullies is right. WATER- GOD GIVEN RIGHT.

Keep in mind that he was not arrested for collecting rainwater. His crime was related to the natural water tables and building canals. This is something Oregonians take very seriously.

In this case, some reason should have been applied since his operation didn't impact anything but, as they say "Justice is blind".

reply to post by Screwed


The people of Oregon should literally go break this man out.

Show up by the thousands, let just this one man go from jail.

Then everybody in the state begins to collect rain water. This is nonsense, nobody owns the rain water, I personally, if this happened in my area would lose my mind.

~Tenth

reply to post by Screwed


So sad, so pathetic, so annoying........ I'm not even sure why I'm surprised anymore... So collecting rain water runoff now is a crime?? Jesus christ!!!!

I hope this guy fights these BS charges tooth and nail. The Govt. needs a serious wake-up call like yesterday.. I've literally had to re-write this post a thousand times because I keep swearing up a storm up in it.. Stories like this just piss me off beyond belief...

There was a similar case in Utah some time ago in which a car dealer was collecting rainwater to wash the cars. He got into trouble as well. Here's a news report about it.