Just over a month ago,  I posted about the vicious crime of Standing.  No, not standing, as in standing to sue.  Just plain old standing, as in hanging around with your feet in the same place.  This was the case of Matthew Jones, believed by police to be a serial stander, presenting a clear and present danger to all civilized people traversing Times Square.  At least according to Police Officer Momen Attia, who finally captured Jones in the act of standing.

Following heated argument before the court, a decision has finally come down, per Talkleft.  Matthew Jones is free!  Matthew Jones is free!

The Court of Appeals, in its 6 page decision, held:

Something more than a mere inconvenience of pedestrians is required to support the charge. Otherwise, any person who happens to stop on a sidewalk — whether to greet another, to seek directions or simply to regain one’s bearings — would be subject to prosecution under this statute.

So here is the real question.  It took the Court of Appeals, the highest court in the State of New York, to figure this out? 

The fact that the arraigning judge refused to dismiss this ridiculous complaint comes as no surprise.  As I’ve tried to make clear over and over again, there are too many judges whose primary goal on the bench is to avoid getting their face on the front page of the New York Post as “New Yorks Biggest Criminal Loving Judge,” and you can never go wrong by erring on the side of the prosecution. 

In case you think this is a criticism of lower court judges, consider the fact that the appeals court affirmed the refusal to dismiss.  Really.  How can you blame the arraigning judge when the next level applauds the decision?  And after all, isn’t New York really a safer, more pleasant place to be when we get all those serial standings off the street?  Just ask Rudy.

Seriously, the fact that it required three years and three levels of courts to reach the conclusion that was so painfully obvious to everyone (especially those of us who have themselves had occasion to “stand” in Times Square) is a disgrace.  The system worked, but the price of reaching an obvious decision was shockingly astronomical.  If the law is to command public respect, it has got to do better than this.

And if you have nothing to be thankful for today before, now you can rejoice in the knowledge that you, like Matt Jones, can stand in Times Square without fear.  This is important, given the fact that many thousands of people will be doing exactly that while watching the Thanksgiving Parade.  Our holding cells aren’t nearly big enough to deal with this mass disobedience.
 
Rudy Guiliani with unidentified New York (former) Senior Senator and another (in white) belived to be Puff Daddy engaged in Criminal Standing, as well as various fashion violations.