Story Archive

Mandatory Allergies

Jan Duffner isn’t exactly allergic to government officials, but the government of St. Peters, Mo., may cause her allergic reactions anyway. “I found out if I took grass out of my life that I wasn’t asthmatic,” she says. “I could sleep through the night without gasping for air.” So Duffner and her husband pulled out their grass and planted foliage she wasn’t allergic to. But about six years later, the city passed a law mandating that yards be half-grassy. The Duffners got a variance, but it still required them to plant “some” grass. Attempts to solve the stalemate in state court failed, so the Duffners turned to federal court. A judge there said the government was within its authority to force the Duffners to plant allergens. The Duffners’ attorney, Dave Roland of the Freedom Center of Missouri, says he’ll fight the case to the Supreme Court if need be. He said his clients could face a six-figure fine and as much as two decades in prison. (AC/KSDK St. Louis) ...Which great legal mind said “a man’s home is his gas chamber”?