Carbondale has no law on the books that would make standing in one place a criminal activity. Police have been using Carbondale's "nuisance ordinance" to prohibit students from simply standing on the Strip during the early morning hours.
Signs erected on Illinois Avenue in fall 2000 read, "It is unlawful to obstruct, encroach or block the flow of pedestrian traffic on sidewalks or vehicular traffic on streets." This is formally known as city code 17-1-4, or the nuisance code, a part of Carbondale's encroachment laws.
The law was enacted in 1993, but wasn't "enforced" on the Strip until after the riotous Halloween 2000, said Carbondale Police Chief R.T. Finney. By using the law to keep students mobile on Illinois Avenue after bars close at 2 a.m., the thoroughfare does not become congested, Finney said. Police are then able to quash any inklings of the traditional "taking of the Strip."
But even students engaging in such mundane activities as waiting for cabs or standing in line at any of the businesses on Illinois Avenue have reportedly been victims of the newly enforced ordinance. They are not allowed to stand in one place, even when they do not appear to be congesting vehicular or pedestrian traffic. Gathering in groups to talk outside bars is strictly prohibited, resulting in downtown business owners shuffling late-night patrons out of back doors and into the alley to avoid confrontations with police.
Downtown businesses such as Jimmy John's Gourmet Sub Shop are not only feeling the pinch of decreased sales, but owners are disgusted with the "out the back" policy they must assert on early morning patrons. Eric Stinson, Jimmy John's manager, has seen vehicles located in the back of his store vandalized, including the theft of signs on his delivery cars.
Students believe their constitutional right to peaceably assemble has been compromised in the name of order, and the Daily Egyptian agrees. We wholeheartedly support efforts by the city and the police to maintain peace and ensure that the ghosts of Halloween past do not return.
However, using the nuisance ordinance as a blanket law to prohibit merely standing is hurting local businesses as well as "encroaching" on students' rights.
We encourage police officers to use the law as it was written, only forcing those that obstruct vehicular and pedestrian traffic to move along. Students should not believe that standing in line on the Strip to get a gyro is illegal.
Published on 11/17/05; 12:24:44 PM
