Chicago's Snore Police on Public Transportation

John Kass reports on public transportation in Chicago:

Window washer Sam Hardison has been charged by City Hall with another crime of the century:

Falling asleep on a CTA train, with a cookbook in his lap. So the poor guy may have to pay City Hall a fine of up to $300 for sleeping dangerously. That's a lot of windows to wash for a nap on the CTA, where payrollers and political hacks have been napping for years, when they're not taking double pensions, golfing and goofing off.

Unfortunately in Chicago, public sleeping is still a crime, if you work for a living and are exhausted and nod off on the train at the end of a long day that began before 4 a.m.

And so, Wednesday is judgment day for Legs of Death 2: The Window Washer's Trial.

"I looked the officer right in the eye and said, 'You've got to be kidding. I have to go to court on this?' And he said, 'Yes, you do,'" Hardison, a West Sider, told us the other day about his June 5 ticket on the Red Line.

The officer's partner didn't like Hardison's attitude, which he says was shock and astonishment, not anger. (Full disclosure: My late father-in-law was a window washer, so I'm prejudiced in Hardison's favor, as is my wife, and she's angry.)

"And the other officer said, 'If you don't be quiet, we will take you to jail right now. We'll arrest you,'" Hardison said. "I let them write their citations. I felt that it was not right, but what can I do?"

Great moments in socialist transportation.Remember,this is a town where virtually anyone can become an Alderman and make wacky laws like this.Even "made members" of the mob can become lawmakers.Imagine that.