Sunday In The Park

This morning, it took HPD approximately 4 minutes to respond to my call letting them know that one of the 7th Street Park regulars was lying on a park bench while smoking a cigarette, surrounded by empty alcoholic beverage containers.  Two HPD officers arrived in separate vehicles. 

The conversation between one officer (O) and someone named Michael Madison (M) went something like this.

M:  I ain't done nothing wrong. 
O:  Michael, you know you can't sleep on the bench.  You can't drink in the park.  You can't smoke in the park.  You can't litter in the park.  Now move along and take your litter with you.  (On the ground were a small, empty plastic vodka bottle, an empty beer bottle, a large empty beer can, and an empty soda can)
M:  That stuff ain't mine. 
O:  Michael, we arrested you 7 times yesterday, now get up and take your litter with you.
Michael complied (leaving the vodka bottle behind, though), dropping his litter in the nearest public trash can across the street.

A familiar scene in the park

At a December court date in front of John Connor, one of two Hudson City Court judges, Michael Madison had 30 violation notices (also known as arrests) to answer to.  They were all dropped, except for one -- drug possession.  He was given a 90-day sentence at the Columbia County Jail by Connor, served 60 days, and was once again seen regularly in and around the 7th Street Park as if nothing had changed.  Michael Madison failed to appear for a court date two weeks ago to answer to several more violations he had accrued since being released a little over a month prior.  Connor adjourned Madison's case for this Tuesday.  Chances are very good that Madison will, yet again, not show up to his court date, and that HPD, as they so commonly do, will continue to issue him violations for everything from trespassing to public urination, littering, open container, harassment, you name it.  None of the violations, obviously, have any effect on Madison.  Neither does the court system, it seems.  Last fall, I found one of the printed violations HPD had just issued to Madison, on an 8x11 piece of paper -- it was crumpled on the ground near the fountain in the 7th Street Park.