Mike Thick
tedbessell
Junior Chimp
Posts: 7,084
Political Matrix
E: -6.65, S: -8.26
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« on: September 11, 2020, 11:02:08 AM » |
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I had to think hard about this one, but ultimately I agree with Jimmy’s sentiments and will be voting against this bill. I don’t think it’s the federal government’s job to decide whether someone is “using” land properly, particularly for a purpose as trivial as allowing people to go for walks or camp on their property.
I live in an area extremely prone to wildfires, where a littered cigarette is all it takes for much of the unused land in question to go up in flames. Allowing unimpeded, unsupervised access to tons of private land will dramatically increase the danger these fires pose to my community and many others around the country — and even if people can be held “financially liable” for damage they do to property, most people can’t pay to rebuild dozens of houses destroyed in a wildfire, assuming it’s possible to figure out who’s responsible at all.
Furthermore, this raises some thorny legal questions: if people are guaranteed essentially unfettered access to some kinds of private land, but law enforcement is still barred from entering said land without a warrant, how are we supposed to prevent criminal activity that occurs out of plain view? Maybe there’s a perfectly good explanation for this, but I think there’s a reason cops do patrols of public parks at night: unsavory characters look for public spaces where they’re out of sight to do unsavory things. Seems like this bill could give them what they’re looking for, with even more protection from law enforcement.
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