By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Can laughing too loud in your own home make you a bully? Some neighbors in Long Island’s Rockville Centre think so and have called police to the home of 42-year-old Robert Schiavelli about 30 times. Robert, who suffers from a host of neurological problems and seizures, lives at home with his mother and has a distinctive laugh — with a timbre somewhere between the laughs of Woody Woodpecker’s and Curly Howard’s from the Three Stooges. Schiavelli claims the laugh is a defense mechanism against neighbors who routinely taunt him with screams of “retard,” and other epithets tied to his condition. Neighbors respond that Robert makes the annoying laugh at his bathroom window and that the noise can be heard across the street. They also claim it’s a form of bullying.
Robert’s mother, Suzanne, is aghast especially now that Robert is facing a $500.00 fine or 30 days in jail for a two summons issued for “disturbing the piece.” “It’s given Robert nightmares,” she said, adding. “But I will fight this, to the federal court and to the Supreme Court, if necessary.” That looks like a distinct possibility as Judge William Croutier said at Schiavelli’s arraignment Wednesday that he was “not so inclined” to dismiss the charges, according to the New York Post. Attorney Andrew Campanelli said there was no chance he’d allow Schiavelli to plead out the tickets in court. “It’s absurd,” he told the Post. “My client faces 30 days in jail for laughing.”
Do you think Robert’s home-based defense to mocking amounts to bullying? Or do the neighbors have the right to live in an environment free from annoying sounds? Before you answer listen for yourself in this report from The Today Show:
Source: NBC4 New York
~Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
if I was a hollywood soud affects guy, I would want that laugh in my stable.
Previous citations didn’t stop the laughing and it doesn’t sound like this one will do it either. Perhaps mediation would help.
Neighbor: “I find your laughing to be annoying and it disturbs my peace.”
Mr. S: “My laughing isn’t something I can control. It’s something called [whatever]. My laughing at the open window is in response to you bullying me with your stares and name calling.”
Neighbor: “I call you names b/c you deliberately make that awful noise at your open window.”
Mr. S: “I only do it at the open window b/c I’m being bullied.”
“What I hear from each of you is that you are responding to each other. May I suggest that, neighbor, you will pledge to treat Mr. S. with respect and that you, Mr. S, will no longer laugh at an open window.
People are cruel to the person said to have autism. The people deserve to be laughed at. I suggest strongly that the person said to have autism see a UCS chiropractic practitioner, upcspine or upper cervical heath centers keeping appointment’s. People are bullying the autistic person. The care I talk about is good for all ages. If whoever does not need the atlas adjusted they will not adjust it.
Darren, Still working material for his standup career! I would humbly request a 5 year hiatus from anyone using the word “closure.”
This may have @ its root the age old Italian v Irish feud, the noise complaint just being a pretext. I know some here don’t like to acknowledge ethnic feuds; but they exist, and are often the reason for conflict.
How about just shutting the window and both sides can have closure?
As a former resident of a contiguous area to Rockville Center I know the place very well. Where this man lives, as you can see by the video, the houses are well-spaced. I wonder then at this charge particularly in light of the fact that dogs barking can easily be just as annoying, gut the distance between houses is such that even barking would not be to disturbing. The RVC police, usually tolerant are showing poor judgment in this case. As OS states it could possibly be an example of Tourette’s Syndrome, thus a neurological disorder.
Oh . . . please.
rafflaw 1, April 13, 2013 at 10:27 am
… this is a waste of the courts time and the police department’s time. …
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Good point.
The citiy’s website indicates that it is a very busy court (30,000 cases annually with two judges).
Judge William Croutier sits on the bench of the Village Justice Court, which means the relevant issues come from a municipal ordinance.
The village may claim to be noise conscious, but more than that is needed.
For example, they just modified an ordinance moving the time that construction can begin from 7:30 AM to 8:00 AM, exempting internal remodel of homes “if the sound can’t be heard at the property line” (Link).
Yet the village was cited by DEC for piling up garbage which cost the city over $300,000 to mitigate (ibid).
If their construction ordinance language “if the sound can’t be heard at the property line” is any indicator, they do not draft their ordinances with required specificity:
(Clarity in Criminal Statutes: The Void-for-Vagueness Doctrine). I have not been able, yet, to find the text of the city ordinance.
Anyone else found it?
This is an amazing example of ordinary or quirkish behavior turned into something criminal. I just cannot believe that any officer or prosecutor would bring a charge as ridiculous as this. Is the next step ticketing minors for playing in their yards? Without even bringing in the mental illness or medical conditions issues, this is a waste of the courts time and the police department’s time. Mr. Neighbor, get a life.
There are several reasons a person such as Robert Schiavelli might have this distinctive and frequent laugh. His family contends the laugh is a “defense” against the bullying Robert has experienced due to his developmental problems. I am not so sure.
There are several reasons a person might have this laugh, none of which will be “cured” by a court or complaining neighbors. There are several disorders which might explain the laugh. Is it Tourette’s syndrome? From the sketchy descriptions in the news articles I found about him, it might be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Angelman syndrome should be one of the first things to be ruled out. Angleman syndrome is a neuro-genetic disorder. Primary symptoms of Angelman syndrome include developmental delay, communication problems, and unique behaviors such as frequent laughter and smiling.
These kinds of cases are not good for my blood pressure. Demonization of the mentally ill and developmentally disabled has always been with us, but for the courts to treat it as something voluntary is outrageous. There was a discussion on this blog yesterday about depression being viewed by some a as a character flaw rather than an illness. Without knowing more about this case than has been published so far, I am not taking sides. It is possible the neighbors have a case, but if it is what I think it is, perhaps this can be a teachable moment for the court, law enforcement and the general public.
I think that BFM has the best take on the law. There has to be a defined limit of some kind, otherwise it is too vague and capricious, and given the physical distance between the houses and being indoors, I think the case should be tossed on its face. If not, then an appeal would have to consider the subjective means used to determine the standard.
bigfatmike 1, April 13, 2013 at 8:50 am
I have to wonder how loud it could possibly be in the neighbor’s home. Just try yelling from inside your home to attract someone’s attention who is outside. This kind of complaint does not have to depend on subjective evaluation. A decibel meter could do much to tell us if there really is a problem.
I also wonder to what extent this behavior is controllable by this individual.
I think the answers to those two questions would tell me much about who is harassing whom.
Is it possible that this behavior constitutes a disability under the ADA?
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Good points.
There are some neurological manifestations like Coprolalia that are involuntary.
If the statute, rule, or law does not have a decibel limitation or specification, it may be too arbitrary or capricious.
If the law does specify a decibel level (such regs usually specify a level at a given time … lower at night) the prosecution will have to provide adequate evidence tied to a specific time.
There but for the grace of chance and genes go we.
The mother says the neighbor casts malevolent stares, and insults.
I would say the neighbor is a cause of escalation.
Kindness and effort at understanding have far more positive effects than negative personal attacks.
I am 99% sure there is a satisfactory solution to this.
The neighbor can step up, grow up, and most likely defuse the Mans laughing retaliation. …..
…. I didn’t even have to press my liberal wind chime keyboard mode to write this one.
I have to wonder how loud it could possibly be in the neighbor’s home. Just try yelling from inside your home to attract someone’s attention who is outside. This kind of complaint does not have to depend on subjective evaluation. A decibel meter could do much to tell us if there really is a problem.
I also wonder to what extent this behavior is controllable by this individual.
I think the answers to those two questions would tell me much about who is harassing whom.
Is it possible that this behavior constitutes a disability under the ADA?
What you don’t seem to get is that they are harassing him. His laughter is his DEFENSE.
It depends on the frequency and severity of the laugh sound, which sounded very annoying in the clip. Neighbors have a right to a quiet, peaceful place, and if this laugher nuisance happens with some frequency, something needs to be done. It lowers the quality of life for others.
This is absurd because of the distance between the houses, and the fact that he is inside using unamplified sound. So a loud argument can qualify as disturbing the peace inside your own home? That seems to be a stretch. Now if they lived in Houston wihere most of the homes are four feet apart, I might be able to see a case.
If the neighbors don’t like it…. Maybe they can move….
These people are bullying this man with special needs. What a bunch of douchebags.
Wrong.
If they call him the r word they are the bullies:
(Bully Worship: The Universal Religion – 4, quoting Wikipedia). Same with nations of the world that bully those with far less power.