Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldwingnut
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Until the FAA or FDLE is involved it is little more than saber rattling by a bunch of out of town lawyers in my opinion. This has little to do with drones and everything to do with controlling the flow of information.
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Despite my lengthy post regarding signage and enforceability being completely deleted and the thread posts re-numbered, I agree with Don here - until FAA says something, nothing matters. Polite requests not to trespass will be heeded. Unlawful demands will not. This has everything to do with PR. In fact, with the longterm rumors regarding loofahs and STDs, etc., I am surprised that The Family hasn't engaged a very high powered PR firm to run counter-marketing a long time ago. Expensive? Yes! But so is the value of their investment and the value of protecting it.
By the way, for those interested, the crime of trespassing generally has three elements - all of which MUST be met for it to actually be a crime:
Firstly, a person must be in a place they do not have the legal right to be;
Secondly, a person in authority of said place must request/demand they leave;
Thirdly, the offending person must refuse to do so.
If I'm inside your house and, having taken nothing, you demand I leave and I do so, you have NO crime. None. Not trespassing, not burglary, not breaking and entering (same thing as burglary under Florida law), nothing. Unless you can develop evidence to indicate reasonably that I intended to take something or commit a felony inside, I cannot be arrested.
Since it is a misdemeanor, it generally has to be committed in the presence of a police officer. A private person (like the owner) can pursue a private person's arrest but be VERY careful of going down this road. The liability attached to false arrest is very high and can cost you a lot of money. Plus, do not show up for a single one of the many hearings (oft rescheduled) and the entire case is dropped.
So if I go walking down the middle of Eastport today, and no one demands I leave, there is no crime. If someone does demand it, and I leave, there is no crime. If someone does demand it, and I do not leave but eventually do so before law enforcement arrives, there is no crime (absent you signing a private person's arrest form and opening yourself up to gads of civil liability).
I would never do so - and I certainly won't advocate anyone else do so either, but the law is what the law is regardless of scare tactics and threats.