Another “Illegal Garden”

A really stupid trend continues…

This week Adam Guerrero, a math teacher at Raleigh-Egypt High School in Memphis, TN., along with three students became lawbreakers after they continued to tend to a garden after it was deemed a neighborhood nuisance. Guerrero was citied for violating city ordinances 48-38 and 48-97. His crime, as reported by the Memphis Flyer, consists of failure to maintain "a clean and sanitary condition free from any accumulation of rubbish or garbage" at his Nutbush home.

When Guerrero asked the judge to define what a nuisance was he was told that if it generates a complaint, it’s a neighborhood nuisance. The Memphis Flyer reports that there’s no visible trash or garbage and that plants are kept off the sidewalk and driveway.

But – you can do something…

Adam has been ordered to remove the garden before his court date on September 23rd. He has been avoiding this until now given the all the efforts that went into it but time is running out. Please act today!

1. Write to Judge Larry Potter at larry.potter@shelbycountytn.gov in support of Adam Guerrero’s garden. Please be respectful. You are an ambassador for the kitchen garden cause.

2. Join the Facebook page called "Save Adam Guerrero’s Garden," where you can show your support and receive updates about his case.

3. Sing your outrage from rooftops on Twitter using the #WarOnGardens hashtag.

4. Sign an online petition at change.org in support of the garden, which will be sent to the judge hearing Guerrero’s case.