A Michigan judge has fined and shamed a 72-year-old cancer patient for not taking care of his overgrown lawn, despite his being too weak to do so.
In footage of the Zoom court hearing on Jan. 10, Judge Alexis G. Krot of the 31st District Court berated Burhan Chowdhury.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," said Krot. "If I could give you jail time on this, I would."
Chowdhury, who lives in the community of Hamtramck located about nine kilometres north of Detroit, admitted to the court he fell behind in his yard work after he was diagnosed with lymph node cancer in 2019.
The overgrown property prompted local officials to subpoena Chowdhury on Aug. 2, 2021.
Chowdhury’s son, Shibbir, spoke on behalf of his father in court and told Krot that the cancer treatments have left his dad too frail to mow the lawn on his own.
Shibbir said in the court hearing that he had been helping his father take care of the property for years, but had been in Bangladesh for the last three months prior to Chowdhury's citation.
Despite this, Krot said the state of Chowdhury's yard was inexcusable and ordered he pay a US$100 fine.
"You’ve got to get that cleaned up. That is totally inappropriate" she said.
Shibbir asked Krot if the fine could be forgiven on account of his father's health. He added that the property has since been cleaned up.
"Have you seen the photo?" Krot asks, interrupting him. "That is shameful -- shameful! The neighbours should not have to look at that. You should be ashamed of yourself."
Footage of the court hearing has since gained mainstream attention online, spurring a petition to have Krot removed as a judge. As of Friday morning, the Change.org petition had over 39,000 signatures.
