Homeless man Michael McLaughlin was arrested and thrown into jail for, wait for it –holding up a piece of cardboard on which had been scrawled the grossly offensive sentence  “I’m Thinking Of A Cheeseburger”. What a bastard!

Apparently such behavior is considered a form of begging and is therefore against the law, especially for homeless people with built-in hot dogs. According to the article, the law states that one has to a “force oneself upon the company of another” for this to be illegal, yet all this guy seems to have been doing is standing by the road holding up a sign  so it could be argued that strictly speaking he wasn’t violating the law.

And even if he had been, what the hell kind of asshole makes begging illegal? Not only is it inhumane, but it probably increases the chances that the homeless will commit crimes just in order to eat, but hey that’s even better – you can give them longer sentences for theft than for mere begging!

As it is, the  enforcers settled for unlawful solicitation and demanded a $500 bond, which it  is safe to say McLaughlin can’t afford to pay or he wouldn’t be begging for cheeseburgers!

Found it as I often do, at the Weekly Vice