Will Grigg's Liberty Minute

November 8, 2007

For nearly 20 years, Laura Soelberg has conducted a fall garage sale in the church lot next to her mother's old house. This year, police arrived to shut down the event and to issue a citation to the 72-year-old resident of Minnetonka, Minnesota.

The city has accused Soelberg of a zoning violation, for which she could face 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, and a year of probation. Her supposed crime was using her own property in a fashion disapproved of by municipal bureaucrats.

One city official told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that Soelberg's events aren't authentic garage sales, since she uses each of them as ?an income-generating venture? rather than to ?get rid of items around the house.? That distinction makes sense only to the sort of person who inhabits a bureaucracy, rather than making an honest living.

If you want to see socialism in action, traveling to China is unnecessary. Go attend a meeting of your local planning and zoning board.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.