Too Early Garbage Man Kevin McGill Gets A Reprieve, City Drops Charges

The story of garbage man Kevin McGill sparked international outcry when it was learned that he would be forced to serve a total of 30 days in jail for picking up garbage too early. The reason for his early bird behavior wasn’t clear, but it seemed unfathomable that a man would be punished with jail time.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, McGill was said to be in violation of a city ordinance which said that trash wasn’t to be collected prior to 7 a.m. He would arrive at an Atlanta, Georgia, suburb at around 5 a.m. This caused some rather hard feelings in the neighborhood. The city attorney argued that this was a constant nuisance. Apparently, persons in the Georgia suburb were so troubled by the sound of a garbage truck that they would constantly call 9-1-1 to complain.

“Fines don’t seem to work. The only thing that seems to stop the activity is actually going to jail.”

This lead to the city attorney attempting to use Kevin McGill to “set an example” by putting the Waste Management, Inc. employee in jail. However, it’s not immediately clear how targeting an individual employee was going to inspire change in corporate offices. In any case, it would be Kevin behind bars on weekends until he served the full 30 days.

This outcome changed considerably when the suburban community of Sandy Springs, Georgia, found itself under a global microscope once the incredible story went viral. According to recent updates about the case, the jail sentence against McGill has since been suspended. The Sandy Springs Solicitors Office announced on Monday that the charges were dropped after the city attorney’s office opted to take “a step back” and gain “perspective.”

“In retrospect, the actions of the court with regards to Mr. McGill’s sentence for violating the city’s noise laws, was disproportionate to a first-time offense. As such, the court has amended its sentence to time served, and further probation suspended.”

There’s some speculation that the viral nature of the story (and the less-than-flattering image of the affluent suburb) led to a change of heart. Not that it matters to Kevin McGill — the garbage man is simply happy to avoid jail time for simply doing his job.

Sentence given to garbage man who came to work early dropped http://t.co/0dhjZFPhr8 How fast ppl chng their tune when injustice goes viral

— PurpleGimp (@PurpleGimp) March 10, 2015

It’s not certain what will be done at this point, as jailing a garbage man doesn’t seem to address the issue — or at least, provide a popular solution. It’s possible Sandy Springs officials may directly fine or sanction companies instead of individual employees.

Do you think the city was right to jail Kevin McGill? Why do you think the city attorney opted to drop the charges?

[Image Credit: Farah Aakash/the Daily Mail]