Water rights and wrongs

A Spirit Lake man's decision to allow his neighbor to use his city water led to a court battle that played out this week in the Idaho Court of Appeals.

Mike Freitas, 46, was cited by a Spirit Lake police officer in 2012 for illegally providing water to a neighbor's residence.

The 12-year Spirit Lake resident said it all began after he lent his hose - that was connected to a spigot at Freitas' home - to a neighbor. Shortly after doing so, Freitas said police officers came to his home and informed him that what he was doing was illegal. They provided Freitas with a written copy of the city ordinance he was accused of violating.

"I read it and it starts out with 'Everything up to and including the meter and the shut-off belong to the city,'" Freitas said. "I'll agree with that, but what is after that is my stuff, and once it passes through your meter and your shut-off it's mine, and I can do whatever I want with it."

Freitas said he continued lending water to his neighbor as an act of "civil disobedience." The neighbor's water service had been turned off for non-payment.

Freitas was eventually ordered by a Kootenai County District Court judge to pay a $500 fine in connection with the case. However, instead of paying the fine and letting the case rest, Freitas kept fighting and appealed the ruling.

"I've always been passionate about the law," Freitas said. "I like the law and I know what it's for and how it should be used. To me, I can't handle what these guys are doing."

Freitas contends the law is used by authorities as a tool to "run people out of town."

In the appellate court, Freitas and his attorney attempted to argue that the Spirit Lake statute was "vague on its face," which means that Freitas did not have reasonable notice that his particular activities violated the statute.

In his opinion, Judge John M. Melanson ruled that Freitas failed to prove that the ordinance was unconstitutional or that the district court made any errors in its proceedings. The judge wrote in his opinion that Freitas will still be responsible for paying the $500 fine, but the man said he intends to keep fighting.

"It's like the Founding Fathers said, 'If you don't exercise your rights you don't deserve to have them,'" Freitas said. "So I exercise mine every single chance I get. I won't pass up a chance to exercise my rights."