From: "FFF" <fff@fff.org>
To: <emailupd@fff.org>
Subject: FFF Email Update -- September 6, 2001
Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2001 14:21:25 -0400

CAPSULE COMMENTARY
by Jacob G. Hornberger, president, The Future of Freedom Foundation

If you happen to be a pack rat, you might want to think twice before you
move to Fairfax County, Virginia. Two years ago, the county set up a
Hoarding Task Force, and 41-year old Fairfax County resident Cheryl Herring
has discovered the hard way how hazardous
hoarding can be. The Hoarding Task Force removed both her mother and
her from their home and locked them out, leaving Herring sleeping in her
backyard. Herring's offense: hoarding! Now, it's true: Herring is indeed a
hoarder, so much so in fact
that her entire house is illed with all types of junk, even rising to the
ceiling in some rooms. As a friend of Herring put it, "She's a little
eccentric." The Task Force justified its eviction of Herring and her mother
on the ground that a junk-filled house is a fire hazard, without explaining
exactly how or to whom. Herring's response was, "I'm not Martha Stewart. If
I want to live in a firetrap or a dump, it's my business." Fairfax County
must attracts hoarders -- the Hoarding Task Force has 40 active
hoarding cases and expects another 60 this year. Just in case you're
thinking that I'm making all this up, here's the URL for the Washington Post
story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10551-2001Aug28.html


The Future of Freedom Foundation
11350 Random Hills Road
Suite 800
Fairfax VA 22030
Tel. (703) 934-6101
Fax (703) 352-8678
E-mail: fff@fff.org
www.fff.org