Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: nobodyknows
Originally posted by: eskimospy
Originally posted by: nobodyknows
Originally posted by: eskimospy
nobodyknows: I most certainly do care about the property owner. That doesn't mean he gets immunity from lawsuits though.
Then what are the landowners options?
Trespassers have killed his cattle, have vandalized and stolen his property, hell they've even broken into his house!! And this has been going on for 10 years!!!!!
Now the MALDEF are suing him??? Get real, this should never, ever have went to trial. I hope/pray he countersues the MADEF for emotional damages!!!!!!! I'd say 32 million bucks should about cover it.
Are the individual people he caught responsible for the death of his cattle/vandalism/etc?
If he hadn't held them for the police they might have did something. That is why he was within his rights to do so.
If they are, he should definitely go after them. Has the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund done something illegal or negligent by providing for the legal defense of illegal immigrants that has contributed to damage to his property? (hint: defending illegal immigrants in court isn't illegal.) Good luck with that one.
Hint: Trespassing is.
Maybe the guy should work for greater police protection for his property, maybe he should petition local government for more resources to secure his property, whatever. The answer is obviously not to somehow declare someone immune from civil penalties for their actions, and it never will be.
Who's declaring anybody immune from anything?
He is protecting his property. Nothing more, nothing less. You can't just allow anybody and everybody to run over your property just because they feel like it and the situtation is further agravated by the number of people doing so and the damage they are causing.
Like I said, other then a little lip service you don't give a crap about the property owner.
What the hell are you talking about? I never said he wasn't in his legal rights to hold them, all I said was that they have a right to sue him, the same as anyone else inside America does. The courts will decide if what he did was right or wrong. I'm not sure how you have confused my defense of basic legal principles with support of the Mexicans' position, but you should stop. Sorry if my concern for someone's trespassing problem don't exceed my concern for the basic function of the American civil legal system.
As far as suing someone for trespassing, good luck on that one too. You have to be able to show you were in some way materially harmed by their trespass. Saying "I've had cows killed" isn't going to fly, because you would have to prove that THESE people killed your cows. If he can come up with some way he was harmed by these individuals and can affix a dollar amount to it, go for it! Your argument against MADEF just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Suing someone for providing legal defense is a great way for whatever lawyer takes this guys' case to get himself in trouble with the bar for filing frivolous lawsuits.
Dealmonkey: that's not how our system works, and it would create an administrative catastrophe. I'm not even sure who the 'proper authorities' would be in a civil case. It wouldn't be the police, so who were you thinking of?