Posted on 06/12/2015 12:11:04 PM PDT by GIdget2004
The Iowa Supreme Court has affirmed the right to be drunk on your front porch.
The court ruled Friday in the case of Patience Paye, who appealed her 2013 public intoxication conviction.
Paye called police after fighting with her boyfriend and met officers on the front porch of her Waterloo home. While investigating the domestic assault complaint an officer questioned Paye about whether she'd been drinking.
A test revealed her blood alcohol concentration at 0.267 percent, more than three times the amount considered drunk for driving.
She was charged and convicted. But she appealed, saying her front porch isn't a public place.
The Supreme Court agreed, declaring the front steps of a private residence not a public place if the homeowner hasn't invited the general public to be there.
(Excerpt) Read more at kake.com ...
It is the owner who decides the access. If there is no fence or signage saying otherwise, the starting assumption is private ownership / public access. In this case, the state supreme court has ruled that private ownership trumps public access as it should be.
In essence, the owner can change that designation at any time. If the owner tells someone to leave their property, then the property line becomes the limit of the public access. This is no different than a store owner telling someone to leave the store. The civil rights laws have modified that by asserting a special class of unconstitutional conditions based upon public accommodation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_v._Jardines
The porch is clearly curtilage, which the Supreme Court has found is less private than the home but more private than private property in general.
Private Ownership / Private access = interior of the house
Add all fenced or posted property to that.
Yes, see #21
I believe this guy was better off than me...
For private property, the fact that it's private should mean that it's ALL private unless otherwise indicated, right out to the property line.
Why did She even submit to the test?!?!
Furthermore why did the Stupid Cop pull this Unconstitutional move?
And YES I'm calling this cop stupid because he was. Geeze- badge+gun=power trip.
And before ANYBODY starts in- I AM NOT A COP HATER, STUPID ONES ARE A DIFFERENT THING.
In western lands, if you have a large ranch and a county road
runs through it, you have to close the road to the public for
24 hours each year so the county can’t legally assume ownership. One ranch in southern Oregon, 50 miles by 30 miles, has four roads that they close on the same day. Drives
everyone nuts cause you can’t get anywhere.
Police Officer sees Randal’s “Porch Monkey 4 Life” shirt:
Officer: [shouting] PORCH MONKEY?
Randal Graves: Oh, no no, it’s cool, I’m taking it back.
WORD.
I always thought so.....
Whew! What a relief! Now I can consider moving to Iowa.
The courts have taken the position that the absence of signage or other control (fence) indicates that it is open for public access.
They have indeed.
My personal belief is that much of the prior jurisprudence comes from the old “open range” grazing and movement of cattle.
A relative of mine in Robbinsdale, Minnesota (Mpls) was given a DUI when walking home from a friends place.
**** It is the owner who decides the access. If there is no fence or signage saying otherwise, the starting assumption is private ownership / public access. In this case, the state supreme court has ruled that private ownership trumps public access as it should be. ****
My signs not only say “No Trespassing” but they also say that “I Will Shoot You” also have signs that say “I Don’t Dial 911”
Local Revenue Enhancement Agents don’t have a problem with the signs, the few times I have had to interact with them they Honk from the street and wait for me to come out to see them, and they ask if they can come into the yard, whether I let them in or not is up to me ... so far its 50/50 ... they have business they better have a Warrant, if they just want to shoot the breeze and drink a beer they get to grab me a cold one from the Ice Chest.
TT
Almost forgot ... if they are coming over to shoot the breeze and drink beer, it isn’t mandatory but appreciated that they bring a 12 pack and some ice. (I always do when I go to their place)
I don’t think they ever tire of me calling them “Revenue Enhancement Agents” or they put up with it cause I brought beer.
We never talk shop or Politics, just fishing and gossip about some poor slep losing everything to his EX after 20 plus years... (see it’s mostly commiseration)
TT
They said drunk on porch not dump on porch!
Minnesota is a Nanny State wannabe. How did they justify a DUI when all the person was doing was driving their feet?
Sure it wasn't public intoxication, or some other horrible crime?
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