People shouldn't be fined by Code Enforcement for others' littering

Upon my return home from another one of my out-of-state trips, I was informed by my husband that the Code Enforcement officers had visited my home to charge me a $500 fine or arrest me for litter at a house that I bought for my granddaughter. I was unaware of this, and it was a shock to me even if I was at home.

First of all, I am a 77-year-old woman who was trying to help out a single mom with four kids (two teenage boys, a 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter). My granddaughter was working two jobs and having difficulty keeping up with the household.

During the after-school hours, the teenage boys, along with their friends, would play basketball and eat snacks in front of the house and discard their litter on the sidewalk and in front of the house. Naturally, when we questioned them, they denied it and blamed each other.

What a pitiful society we are becoming when laws are being enacted to arrest innocent people for others' actions. It is also bad when grandparents have to pay approximately $100 a month in taxes ($1,400 yearly) for an older dwelling just to help provide shelter for those in need. Are we as grandparents not supposed to help? (Especially when most young black men are incarcerated or unemployed.)

Some laws are totally unfair for law-abiding citizens and need to be changed.

RUBY T. MCKENZIE

Sumter