Dumb Laws
From the
Winnipeg Sun comes this story of a man fined $10,000 for going to church.
bq. A resident in this remote northern Maine outpost along the Quebec border says he is being fined $10,000 US for doing something he has done most his life: going to church. Richard Albert, 52, said the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection recently notified him he faces two $5,000 fines for twice crossing from Quebec into Maine on a Sunday when the local border crossing station is closed.
bq. Albert's home is 30 metres on the Maine side of the border. But the church is on the Canadian side of the border, which means he has to cross the boundary illegally to attend church services.
bq. Albert, a U.S. citizen, said he has been crossing the U.S.-Canada border at his own discretion for more than 40 years. But security has been tightened since last May when the Bureau of Customs ended its Form 1 program.
And more:
bq. Albert had no trouble entering Canada because he and other U.S. residents along the border have special passes from the Canadian government that allow them to enter the country when its border stations are closed.
bq. But U.S. law forbids crossing back into the United States when the U.S. border station is closed. Albert said he received a penalty notice in the mail last week saying no final decision had been made about his fines. He expects to hear in the next 60 days how much, if anything, he will have to pay.
Our tax dollars at work here... Sheesh!
Posted by DaveH at February 10, 2004 11:45 AM