Editor’s Note: Liberty Nation’s Washington Political Columnist Tim Donner and Legal Affairs Editor Scott Cosenza sit down to discuss legal challenges and cases taking place across America. This is the transcript of Liberty Nation Radio heard coast-to-coast on the Radio America Network. A podcast version or a videocast of this program is also available by clicking the links.
Tim Donner: Start with a couple of the circuits on the federal court. First, the Tenth Circuit, asked to revive a case against an officer who I guess strayed into somebody's backyard.
Scott Cosenza: Well, they didn't stray into the backyard. They purposely went there to enforce a sign ordinance. A man had a sign posted out front, and the ordinance officer was going to cite him for it. Didn't want to approach the front door, claimed there was some obstruction, heard noises around back, and went around and into the man's backyard. And he sued. He said, "This is an illegal trespass by the government, into my yard."
You can say it makes a mountain out of a molehill, Tim, but I think it's a great case because it establishes an important point that government agents are not allowed to just walk on private property like it's cool, or for any reason they prefer. One of the questions the judge asked, which I thought was a great line, "If you were a trick or treater approaching the house, would you have gone to the front or the back?" And they had to admit they would have gone to the front door. The questio...
