A Chicago parks supervisor, Mr. Yost reported a man behaving strangely, and wound up facing a decade’s worth of pro se suits that he says have cost him “well in excess of six figures.” [The Provocateur and related documents; CBS2Chicago; more from law firm representing Yost]
5 Comments
I think Mr. Yost might want to get a little more “assertive” in the manner with which he’s dealing with this situation. Yost is being short with Long when it comes to creative incentives.
Todd: Long was recently caught trying to carry weapons into a courthouse and is up on 47 criminal charges. He finally took it far enough for the blinkered justice system to actually notice. I don’t think he’s getting out in a hurry this time.
What the story tells is how hard it is to stop a serial harasser who’s not afraid to go to jail for short periods. There seems to be no escalation of penalties for repeat harassment, and there should be. It’s also disgusting how the Parks Dept. didn’t assist Yost, given that the initial cause of the harassment was Yost’s witnessing Long exposing himself while Yost was on the job and legally mandated to report the incident.
sorry to say, but this is the usual response the legal system gives in larger cities. If this were a smaller city or a rural area, I think the local police and courts would have incarcerated him for a longer period much quicker.
“First, because no one would testify that Long’s penis was erect at the time he exposed it, he could only be charged with a misdemeanor according to Chicago ordinance.”
There’s 99% of your problem right there.
Clearly Mr. Long’s mental problems transcend eccentricity. Obsession is a dangerous trait as illustrated by Mr. McVeigh’s obsession with the Waco incident driving him to blow up the Murrah building.