Unequal Application of the Law

I live in a motor home and was legally parked on an abandoned state roadway at the intersection of the Old Marshall Highway and Ivy Hill Road. I made no noise. No mess. No suspicious activity. No traffic violation. N

There should have been no problem.

At 9:00 PM, a Madison County Deputy woke me up and began questioning me because, according to him, where I was parked was “curious.”

Curious?

What law is being broken simply because something seems curious to a Deputy?

That was the entire reason for the encounter. Not a complaint. Not a violation. Not a safety issue. Just curiosity.

Law enforcement does not exist to investigate things that merely seem unusual. Officers need a legal reason to stop, question, or interfere with a citizen who is peacefully minding his own business. When there is no violation, no complaint, and no legal reason for the intrusion, the encounter is no longer legitimate law enforcement. It becomes an abuse of authority and an unacceptable form of harassment.

A day or so later, Mr. McCrary, who owns the gravel pit, came down and insisted I was parked on his property. I had already obtained a map from the tax department and showed him that he was mistaken.

“I own all this, all the way to the river” he said with a sweeping gesture.

I pointed to the map and replied, “Sir, you are mistaken.”

His answer was that he was calling the Sheriff’s Department.

I was not there when the Sergeant arrived. Soon afterward, a Trooper was called and placed a “tow this vehicle” sticker on my window.

Think about that for a moment.

A citizen was legally parked on a public right-of-way, yet the first response was not to verify the facts. The first response was to threaten removal. At that point, it went beyond harassment. It became an abuse of power — the use of government authority against a citizen who was complying with the law.

When I returned, I spoke with the Trooper and explained that I had documentation showing I was not on private property. To his credit, he agreed to look at the map. It was obvious that I was correct, but he said he would have DOT verify it the following day.

DOT confirmed what the map already showed.

I was legally parked. I was not on Mr. McCrary’s property. The Sheriff's Department had no authority to do anything.

So why does this matter?

Because this was never just about where I parked. It is about something much bigger: whether the power of government is being applied fairly and equally, or whether some people are subjected to scrutiny, pressure, and interference even when they are complying with the law, while others are allowed to ignore the same legal requirements without consequence.

North Carolina law specifically addresses abandoned and derelict vehicles. Under N.C. General Statute § 20-137.10, when a vehicle is determined to be abandoned or derelict, it is subject to a tagging process that provides notice before removal. The law establishes a procedure for dealing with those vehicles. It does not provide a process for targeting a citizen who is legally parked simply because a Deputy finds the situation “curious” or because of an unverified complaint.

If you have ever driven down Hayes Run, you have seen the abandoned and derelict trucks that are parked on the state right-of-way. Some of these vehicles have been there for at least 24 years.

These vehicles fall under the very laws that provide a process for tagging and removal. Yet, after all those years, they have apparently never been marked for towing and no apparent enforcement action has been taken.

No late-night visits by the Sheriff's Department. No tow stickers. No urgent response.

Meanwhile, my rights were interfered with while I was legally parked and not violating any law. I was awakened, questioned, and threatened with removal, only to have DOT confirm that I was exactly where I had the legal right to be.

The question is simple:

Why was enforcement used against a person who was complying with the law, while another person’s apparent obligation to comply with that same law was ignored, and ignored for over 20 years?

After 24 years, this is no longer a matter of giving someone the benefit of the doubt. At some point, continued inaction becomes a decision. It raises the unavoidable question of whether personal relationships, friendships, or fraternal obligations are influencing who is held accountable and who is allowed to ignore the same laws that others are expected to follow.

This is disturbing evidence that the Sheriff’s Department is failing in its duty to administer the law equally. Some people are given a pass, while others are subjected to scrutiny, pressure, and harassment even when they are complying with the law.

Equal enforcement of the law is not optional. It is the foundation of public trust, and the Sheriff's Department absolutely failed in it's responsibility here.

The question now becomes: Was this simply a one-time situation where the Sheriff’s Department overreacted, or does this raise serious questions about whether lawful authority was exceeded? Is this an isolated incident, or is it evidence of a larger systemic problem in how the law is being applied?

In small communities, personal relationships, longstanding connections, and close-knit circles can sometimes create the appearance that some people receive a different level of consideration than others. When those circles include people who know and support one another through fraternal relationships, civic relationships, or personal relationships, the public can begin to question whether everyone is truly being treated the same.

A free society depends on one basic principle: the law applies to everyone. In the eyes of the law, all persons MUST be treated equally and the Madison County Sheriff's Department apparently fails badly in this requirement.

Everyone deserves equal treatment under the law.

We MUST do better.

In the next post, I’ll share the responses from the current Chief Deputy and let people decide for themselves whether the answers match the questions.