“Rules are Rules,” When it Comes to Yard Sales

The City of Salem, Oregon, is cracking down on yard sales — even if they are a citizen’s last option to pay for expensive medical bills.

Jay Cline, a Salem resident diagnosed with a debilitating form of bone cancer, held several weekend yard sales to help pay for her treatment. However, the city has a strict rule that a resident may hold no more than three yard sales per year.

A city bureaucrat came by to shut down her last independent means of fighting cancer and informed her that violating the regulation again would be considered a misdemeanor and also result in a $300 fine.

The city told her, “I’m sorry. Rules are rules.” But this is to be expected from Big Government, in which adherence to procedure is more important than outcome.