I'm no lawyer- yet- but the impression I've gotten from the law

[Guaranteed]

is that you can't arrest someone for trespassing at a public event BEFORE you've told them to leave. If the organizers of the event tell the person to leave, and they refuse to, then they can be arrested.

But someone should not, and probably can not, be arrested simply because they've gotten in under the radar of the political filter.

[Shoeempress]

1. Yes that pesky consitutional notice issue.

[Guaranteed]

2. Is there any case law on this

that you know of?

What's constitutional notice?

[cheshire]

3. They don't have to have to be violating a law first?

[Guaranteed]

4. If the organizers tell them to leave, and they refuse to,

then they are breaking the law.

My point is that before they've been told to leave they can't be arrested, because they're not breaking any laws.

[cheshire]

10. I should know this after the Nam protests. Feeling Russian yet?

[unblock]

5. actually, you CAN arrest someone for that

you just can't get a conviction to hold up in court.

the problem is they don't really CARE about getting a conviction. all they really want is to get rid of you until the event is over.

besides, if you really want to be picky, you could just as well say, "please leave now" and then slap the cuffs on them 2 seconds later if they didn't immediately make a beeline for the exit.

still wouldn't hold up in a fair trial, but again, that's not their goal. any conviction would be a bonus for them, but the real point is just to remove the protesters from the event.

[Guaranteed]

6. If you arrest them before telling them to leave,

then they should be able to sue you for wrongful arrest. It's not just that it won't hold up in court.

[buycitgo]

7. private event, private property?

what about that?

[Guaranteed]

8. Are you sure that would be a "private" event?

Seems open to the public, to me. It's not invitation-only.

And, even if it is "private," in most cases the same rules should apply.

[unblock]

11. there's a big gap before you get to a wrongful arrest

the police are given wide lattitude to make arrests that don't lead to convictions before they can get hit with wrongful arrest.

for a wrongful arrest, you have to show damage, malicious intent, and knowledge that the arrest was bogus.

not impossible, but a tough standard.


also, do we know that the person arrested was never given the option to not return? if someone's tresspassing, it's ok, without asking them to leave, to arrest them, immediately take them off the property, then tell them they're free to go as long as they don't try to return.

[Gyre]

9. Trespass is a "willful" act and does require "notice" in advance.

"Notice" comes in many forms. Violation requires a willful entry of some privately-owned area after you've been "noticed" that you're not welcome. It's an infraction in Calfornia, with increasingly uncomfortable punishments, for each subsequent violation. By the third offense it can be a misdemeanor. It allows law enforcement to intervene, but the legal punishment would be really negligible.

BTW. If you're arrested and then charges are later dropped entirely (because the DA can't prove you were "noticed", you could sue for violation of your civil rights. They wouldn't make that mistake again (oh well, for awhile). It's possible I guess that the ACLU might take that case for you.

Gyre