{"id":20902,"date":"2012-10-05T17:20:04","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T21:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/?p=20902"},"modified":"2012-10-05T17:20:04","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T21:20:04","slug":"town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html","title":{"rendered":"TOWN WITHOUT PITY – Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he’s trying to sell to pay for wife’s care"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Dys \u2014 adys@heraldonline.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

CLOVER \u2014 Johnny Ramsey, the 79-year-old Korean War veteran who collected and sold junk to pay for medications for his ailing wife, said just minutes before court Thursday evening: \u201cIf I have to go to jail, I guess I am ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

John Ramsey, 79, stands in his yard in September with some of the items he plans to sell to pay utility bills and other expenses. Ramsey paid a contempt of court fine Thursday after the town of Clover deemed his yard cleanup, mandated in January, insufficient.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An hour later, Ramsey left a Clover courtroom in shackles \u2013 sentenced to 30 days in the\u00a0Clover\u2019s junk man for not cleaning up his yard eight months after a judge ordered him to get rid of the junk.<\/p>\n

Clover Town Judge Melvin Howell ruled after a contempt of court hearing Thursday that Ramsey had refused to comply with court orders to both clean up his property and pay a fine for contempt.<\/p>\n

The sentence will be served on weekends, but it started immediately after court was finished Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Clover Police officers handcuffed Ramsey \u2013 whose nephew is a sheriff\u2019s deputy, whose son is in Afghanistan on his fourth deployment to war \u2013 and walked him outside the court building and put him in a police car.<\/p>\n

Then a burly officer thumped on the trunk, and the police took Clover\u2019s junk man to jail.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Johnny Ramsey – Asked for one last kiss before being carted off to jail and left ailing wife behind standing with a cane. (Police Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ramsey will get out of jail late Sunday night.<\/p>\n

He will be out all next week with a chance to clean up the junk and not go back next weekend.<\/p>\n

Ramsey said nothing as he walked out of the building. He just held up his handcuffed hands after surrendering his wallet and cigarettes.<\/p>\n

After court, Ramsey\u2019s wife, who walks with a cane and requires several medications for illnesses, said \u201cit is just not true\u201d that Ramsey did not try to clean up the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe did try, four or five loads of stuff went out of here,\u201d Patty Ramsey said. \u201cThat was a lie. I\u2019m mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, a church group from Rock Hill put up a privacy fence around some of the property after reading in The Herald about Ramsey\u2019s fight with the town. Judge Howell saw pictures of that fence Thursday, but it was too little and too late.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Johnny Ramsey cleans up items and sells them<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The case against Ramsey \u2013 following coverage in The Herald since his trial in January \u2013 brought support for Ramsey from all over the country.<\/p>\n

Enough donations came in to pay the $500 fine handed down by Howell after he was found in contempt in August for not cleaning up the property to the town\u2019s satisfaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a man sittin\u2019 right yonder with the $500,\u201d Ramsey told Howell Thursday after he had been sentenced to 30 days in jail, but Howell was not swayed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you had just worked with this court sir,\u201d Howell said, then he was cut off by Ramsey.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Johnny Ramsey – says he’s trying to clean up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI did, sir…\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell, a York County magistrate, then cut Ramsey off.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo; I have to do what I have to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Ramsey was taken to jail.<\/p>\n

Ramsey, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, once was convicted of burning a cross on the front lawn of the former police chief in York. He served time in prison before the conviction was overturned on appeal.<\/p>\n

He has since maintained he took the fall for two other guys.<\/p>\n

Ramsey and his wife live in a mobile home on Social Security and veterans benefits that total less than $900 a month. He had sold junk for most of the 20 years he has lived in Clover to keep the lights on, water running and pay for his wife\u2019s medications.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Johnny Ramsey says he is not a hoarder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He has claimed that the town was out to get him. Court testimony showed no neighbors ever complained \u2013 but a town code enforcement officer did. His trial lawyer in January called the town\u2019s code enforcement \u201crogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before court Thursday, he told officers working security: \u201cI got no problem with the \u2018po-lice.\u2019 It\u2019s just the code enforcement man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we ever wanted was for him to clean up his property,\u201d said Joe Funderburk, Clover\u2019s code enforcement officer, after Ramsey was taken to jail. \u201cIt is sad that it had to come to this today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsey\u2019s court-appointed public defender, Toni Johnson, told the judge that many people had tried to help Ramsey, and that \u201ca lot of work has been done to clean up the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Johnson said she \u201cunderstood that Mr. Ramsey has not complied to the satisfaction of the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson asked Howell to accept the $500 fine rather than give jail time, or have Ramsey serve house arrest if he had to be detained.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ask for the mercy of the court,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

During the hearing, which lasted more than half an hour, Howell had police officers put up on a wall screen a timeline of events that led to Ramsey\u2019s being in court Thursday.<\/p>\n

The town advised Ramsey in February 2011 that the junk was a violation. Ramsey was cited four months later after not replying to a letter stating he was in violation of town law.<\/p>\n

[DON’T MISS VIDEO AT END OF THIS STORY – Ramsey goes to jail<\/strong>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ramsey asked for a jury trial and was found guilty in January. It was then that Howell gave Ramsey six months to clean up the property or face 30 days in jail.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave you six long months, I waited patiently,\u201d Howell said.<\/p>\n

Howell ruled in August that Ramsey had not cleaned up his property, found him in contempt of court and gave him two weeks to pay the $500 fine or face jail time.<\/p>\n

The town even offered to haul off the junk if it was carted to the curb, Howell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to send anybody to jail, but I do like people to follow orders,\u201d Howell said. \u201cAll I wanted to see was that you were working diligently to clean up the mess. Again, I tried to keep you out of jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell told Ramsey in court Thursday that he saw a recent television interview in which Ramsey said he would refuse to pay the fine \u2013 even if he had $500 or $20,000.<\/p>\n

Ramsey, who has been the most honest defendant in the history of courtrooms, spoke right up in court Thursday and said, \u201cYes, I did say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Up there on the wall screen at that point was the timeline that said, \u201c10\/4\/12: Court appearance for Mr. Ramsey. To date no attempt has been made to comply with any orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell made it clear in court that any other defendant who does not comply with a court order goes to jail.<\/p>\n

The judge took the time to say that he realized that Ramsey takes care of his wife, that he knows how difficult it is to live on a fixed income, and that he respected Ramsey for his military service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respect you right now, Mr. Ramsey,\u201d Howell said.<\/p>\n

Ramsey replied: \u201cI got the five hunnert dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howell responded in similar vernacular from the bench: \u201cI gotta do what I gotta do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramsey, before court, had put his medications for chronic headaches in a plastic bag in his wife\u2019s purse. His wife had the car keys in case she had to drive home. He had a pack of cigarettes and his wallet and his hope.<\/p>\n

He asked for one last kiss from his wife, standing there with a cane.<\/p>\n

Howell did what he believed he had to do after explaining for several minutes that Ramsey had refused to follow repeated court orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThirty days, served on weekends,\u201d Howell said from the bench in a courtroom that was as silent as a church.<\/p>\n

Then Johnny Ramsey was taken to jail, and Patty Ramsey went home to an empty mobile home.<\/p>\n

VIDEO: Ramsey goes to jail<\/strong><\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=YhHV9BrRmak<\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read more here: http:\/\/www.heraldonline.com\/2012\/10\/04\/4315205\/clover-korean-war-vet-gets-30.html#storylink=cpy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Dys \u2014 adys@heraldonline.com CLOVER \u2014 Johnny Ramsey, the 79-year-old Korean War veteran who collected and sold junk to pay for medications for his ailing wife, said just minutes before court Thursday evening: \u201cIf I have to go to jail, I guess I am ready.\u201d An hour later, Ramsey left a Clover courtroom in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":403,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,5002,4452,5754,599,344,1502,705,428,4086,1498,1430,450,3121,5176,627,2838,806],"tags":[6220,6215,6218,6212,6224,6211,5053,6214,6217,6216,6222,6225,6213,6223,6221,6210,6219],"class_list":["post-20902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-anti-american-2","category-anti-family","category-audacity-of-government","category-big-government","category-bullying","category-godlessness","category-government-2","category-health-medicine","category-insane-laws","category-insanity","category-news-2","category-politics","category-radical-change-towards-tyranny-dictatorship","category-shocking","category-true-love","category-wake-up-america","category-warning","tag-500-fine","tag-79-year-old","tag-ailing-wife","tag-clovers-junk-man","tag-fixed-income","tag-heartless","tag-jailed","tag-johnny-ramsey","tag-junk-man","tag-korean-wat-veteran","tag-no-complaints-from-neighbors","tag-one-last-kiss-from-his-wife","tag-patty-ramsey","tag-ramsey-takes-care-of-his-wife","tag-support-for-ramsey-from-all-over-the-country","tag-when-it-is-not-your-property","tag-york-county-jail"],"yoast_head":"\nTOWN WITHOUT PITY - Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he's trying to sell to pay for wife's care - Watchwoman on the Wall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TOWN WITHOUT PITY - Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he's trying to sell to pay for wife's care - Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Andrew Dys \u2014 adys@heraldonline.com CLOVER \u2014 Johnny Ramsey, the 79-year-old Korean War veteran who collected and sold junk to pay for medications for his ailing wife, said just minutes before court Thursday evening: \u201cIf I have to go to jail, I guess I am ready.\u201d An hour later, Ramsey left a Clover courtroom in…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Watchwoman on the Wall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-05T21:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2012\/10\/War-Vet-goes-to-jail-for-junk-in-yard-300x168.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna Calvin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TOWN WITHOUT PITY - Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he's trying to sell to pay for wife's care - Watchwoman on the Wall","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TOWN WITHOUT PITY - Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he's trying to sell to pay for wife's care - Watchwoman on the Wall","og_description":"By Andrew Dys \u2014 adys@heraldonline.com CLOVER \u2014 Johnny Ramsey, the 79-year-old Korean War veteran who collected and sold junk to pay for medications for his ailing wife, said just minutes before court Thursday evening: \u201cIf I have to go to jail, I guess I am ready.\u201d An hour later, Ramsey left a Clover courtroom in…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html","og_site_name":"Watchwoman on the Wall","article_published_time":"2012-10-05T21:20:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2012\/10\/War-Vet-goes-to-jail-for-junk-in-yard-300x168.jpeg"}],"author":"Donna Calvin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html","name":"TOWN WITHOUT PITY - Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he's trying to sell to pay for wife's care - Watchwoman on the Wall","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2012\/10\/War-Vet-goes-to-jail-for-junk-in-yard-300x168.jpeg","datePublished":"2012-10-05T21:20:04+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-05T21:20:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#\/schema\/person\/1470e1ef6765f8a27f970307b0835df1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2012\/10\/War-Vet-goes-to-jail-for-junk-in-yard-300x168.jpeg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/watchwomanonthewall\/files\/2012\/10\/War-Vet-goes-to-jail-for-junk-in-yard-300x168.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/2012\/10\/town-without-pity-korean-war-vet-79-gets-30-days-jail-for-junk-on-property-hes-trying-to-sell-to-pay-for-wifes-care.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TOWN WITHOUT PITY – Korean War vet, 79, gets 30 days jail for junk on property he’s trying to sell to pay for wife’s care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/","name":"Watchwoman on the Wall","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Donna Calvin","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/#\/schema\/person\/1470e1ef6765f8a27f970307b0835df1","name":"Donna Calvin","description":"In sixth grade my teacher told us that we were going to be the first generation to see the year 2000 and all things would be different. He continued that God wasn't important, wasn't real, and our parents just used God to impose restrictions on us because they were inadequate to parent effectively. I knew then I was going to be involved in a war and that I would have to be in Jesus Christ's Army. Even then, I knew the United States of America would cease to exist without the vast majority of its citizens voluntarily submitting to the Perfect and Good Laws of the Holy Bible. I am a woman who loves the Lord Jesus Christ. I am tired of seeing our LORD denigrated from the school house to the White House. I search the Internet for items that ought to serve as a warning to Americans and Christians all through America, but the nation seems to be sleeping. Wake up America! You are losing your freedoms, your children and your country. Wake up and help stop it!","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/author\/dcalvin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20902"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20919,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20902\/revisions\/20919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/watchwomanonthewall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}