How The 1st Amendment helped me in a recent court case...
VICTORY and it was well worth the stress I went through not only living in an uninhabitable apartment owned by a Slumlord, the daily harassment, threats, obscenities, throwing things at the wall, blocking & vandalizing my vehicles, turning off my utilities, removing my steps to my front door, refusing to fix the water leak that caused mold in the apartment, intercepting my mail, cutting off the only source of heat & hot water, harassing my family & friends to the point that they would not come back and all the written letters full of just evil things directed at me daily.Because I complained to her about the things needing repairs and issues the harassment began, I was then forced to involve the Sheriff's Department and the City Housing Code Enforcement, nothing was resolved and it was all labeled as a "civil" matter (tenant-landlord issues). So I started researching online for anyone else who has gone through simular situations looking for advise on what to do next. I posted the issues on my blog and on other sites as well as commented on other peoples situations. I did receive some good advise and would like to thank all of you who responded.
In retaliation to me involving the internet and looking for help, my slumlord served me with a 30 day notice to move out. I did not do anything to be evicted so I filed a response and followed through with the hearing on Dec. 21st. The outcome of that was the Judge awarded me two weeks to find a new place and move out by Jan. 4th. My Slumlord did not get what she had hoped for, she was asking him to have me removed that day by accusing me of being a "cyber bully" and threatening my Slumlord.
Apparently this upset her very much and she then went to a different court and lied to obtain a Temporary Emergency Move Out Order/Restraining Order claiming I had threatened her and that she was not safe in her home. On Dec, 23rd I was awakened by the Sheriff's to serve me with a 15 minute move out order. I had 15 minutes to get what I could and get out or be arrested. I was then informed that I could not be within 100 yards of my Slumlord or my apartment nor could anyone else on my behalf until the matter was heard in court on Jan. 3rd, two weeks later.
THE OUTCOME OF THIS ISSUE AND THE JUDGEMENT OF THE FINAL HEARING WAS...
The judge did not hesitate to inform the plaintiff (SLUMLORD) of my 1st Amendment right and she had NO supporting evidence of any threats I had supposively made toward her. The Judge dismissed the case without any further discussion.
So I guess you could say justice and the American way went my way. My point is excercise your rights, do and say what you feel.
THE 1st AMENDMENT: Freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
We have the right to speak, post, and publish our thoughts and feeling on things that matter to us and affect our lives. Sometimes you have to go public with an issue to get results, which is what I did to resolve my ongoing issue with my former slumlord. She was given a very good lesson on the 1st Amendment and that was all she was given. I kept me freedom of speech and press and was able to move out without the "eviction" on my record.
The support I recieved from my family and friends helped keep me focused and not give up .So if you play by the rules, excercise your rights and continue to fight for what you believe in and not let anyone intimidate you or try to suppress you from stating the truth and facts you will get the results you deserve.
On the other hand if you are a Slumlord who continues to rent an apartment that has been marked as uninhabitable by humans due to several code violations as well as all the health and safety issues who has been doing for over a year (with at least 12 tenants during that time, which I was not aware of until it was too late) you will still get what you deserve KARMA, someday you will understand it, we can only hope!
Hopefully my story will prevent anyone else from becoming another one of her victims.
