# Legal q: when is a permit process considered onerous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-q-when-is-a-permit-process-considered-onerous/498267 "2009-05-31T16:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-q-when-is-a-permit-process-considered-onerous/498267/6 "2009-06-01T01:03:05Z")
> [@remember those "drinking" bird toys?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-those-drinking-bird-toys/3821/6): > > …As I’ve indicated, it varies, depending on the right and the sort of infringement involved. That’s it in a nutshell. A court would have to decide if the conditions placed upon the citizenry, as outlined in the OP, were too onerous. If I were deciding the case, I have little doubt that I would so hold. But there are no applicable and precise constitutional standards of which I’m aware; it would be a question for the court to decide. Ultimately, however, I suspect the remedy would be found in the political process. A mayor so lazy and out of touch will probably not long survive at the East Podunk polls. A few years ago there was a suburban Cleveland mayor who was (for no particular reason) more than a bit paranoid. He set up security cameras, a reception area with bulletproof glass, an armed police officer on duty, etc., in City Hall. It rankled a lot of people and when he eventually lost a reelection race, turning City Hall into a fortress was definitely an issue. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-q-when-is-a-permit-process-considered-onerous/498267)._