Video of the confrontation soon went viral, garnering nearly , views and national attention. In their legal action, the McCafferty's charged that DelDOT should not have been allowed to remove their basketball pole without some kind of grievance process. The family also demanded a public apology from DelDOT and that three DelDOT officials be arrested for what the family claimed was a violation of their rights. Many of the lawsuit's counts were dismissed by Brady early on and the case had been narrowed to claims about retroactive and selective enforcement of the state's "clear zone" law and if DelDOT employees had immunity from suit.
Brady found that DelDOT employees, who were doing their jobs, did have immunity and that warning letters sent by DelDOT months earlier satisfied the need for due process.
The judge also ruled that the "clear zone" law is safety-related and that enforcement of safety laws cannot be challenged as improperly "retroactive. As for selective enforcement, Brady wrote that in order to prevail on that claim, the enforcement must "shock the conscience" of the court. When Melissa McCafferty noticed DOT workers removing the baskets from other homes on the street, she climbed the pole in her front yard to prevent them from tearing it down, then alerted the news media.
Delaware Online got the amazing photos and video. The workers left, but later returned with police officers who threatened to arrest the McCafferty's if they interfered. The most shocking part? At one point a female officer tells McCafferty's husband that the pole will be removed from the ground, but left in the family driveway. However, once the pole was out the ground, workers took it away while the officer claims she never told them that.
All this despite the news cameras capturing the whole incident. The McCaffertys blame a year-old neighbor who complained about the hoops and accuse the old man — who is in the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame for building youth sports leagues — of hating kids. For you. According to what McCafferty said at the beginning of the video, whether or not the pole could stay was still pending a legislative decision. They came and took it anyway. It should have never been removed until a legal decision had been made on the matter.
John McCafferty said he was in the process of trying to get a restraining order, but that the lieutentant refused to allow him to contact a judge Where is this legal? McCafferty said that he was trying to contact the right people and was attempting to sort things out. The police and DOT concluded that they could do whatever they wanted. Why are the poles being removed from the houses in the neighborhood?
0コメント