R
RobertMarion
Guest
I live in Washington State, in the city of Arlington. I recently received a citation for a nuisance dog.
The citation was written by a friend of the complainant and did not feel fair. It felt like the ordinance was arbitrarily applied since there are many dogs in my neighborhood and mine barks very infrequently. I got rid of the dog before the citation and the officer said that he believed that it would be dismissed, but the citation carries a $1000 max. fine and I don't want to risk it.
After I read the code, I felt that it did not contain language that could easily be understood, so I decided to investigate the constitutionality of the ordinance.
I found a case involving a Spokane city ordinance with the same wording. In that case, the supreme court of Washington declared the law unconstitutionally vague and therefore void.
My question is . . . How do I get my case dismissed? I think that I need to make a motion, but I don't know about the form. I also don't know if I just ask the court to dismiss the case, or ask him/her to declare the law void and cite the supreme courts decision.
Below is the relevant information:
The citation is written on Arlington Municipal Code (8.08.150 Nuisances designated) "Nuisances are defined as follows: (1) Any dog which by habitual howling, yelping, barking, or other noise disturbs or annoys any person or neighborhood to an unreasonable degree."
The relevant Supreme Court decision is: Spokane v. Fischer (110 Wn.2d 541, 754 P.2d 1241)
Can anyone here help?
The citation was written by a friend of the complainant and did not feel fair. It felt like the ordinance was arbitrarily applied since there are many dogs in my neighborhood and mine barks very infrequently. I got rid of the dog before the citation and the officer said that he believed that it would be dismissed, but the citation carries a $1000 max. fine and I don't want to risk it.
After I read the code, I felt that it did not contain language that could easily be understood, so I decided to investigate the constitutionality of the ordinance.
I found a case involving a Spokane city ordinance with the same wording. In that case, the supreme court of Washington declared the law unconstitutionally vague and therefore void.
My question is . . . How do I get my case dismissed? I think that I need to make a motion, but I don't know about the form. I also don't know if I just ask the court to dismiss the case, or ask him/her to declare the law void and cite the supreme courts decision.
Below is the relevant information:
The citation is written on Arlington Municipal Code (8.08.150 Nuisances designated) "Nuisances are defined as follows: (1) Any dog which by habitual howling, yelping, barking, or other noise disturbs or annoys any person or neighborhood to an unreasonable degree."
The relevant Supreme Court decision is: Spokane v. Fischer (110 Wn.2d 541, 754 P.2d 1241)
Can anyone here help?
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