# The legality of deterring mailbox baseball **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646 "2011-08-22T12:24:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/121 "2021-06-24T20:27:22Z")
Yes, he was _sued_. Not arrested. You can _pretty much_ sue anyone for anything- ianal, ymmv. And IIRC the defendant won the case. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/122 "2021-06-24T20:32:13Z")
Those slutty mailboxes were just asking to be hit. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/123 "2021-06-24T21:23:29Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > There’s a reason why we have regulations and the city or county is expected to make accommodations, as opposed to vigilante bullshit like this. Sure, its also a federal offense to destroy a mailbox unfortunately the cops aren’t everywhere. Since that’s the case taking reasonable steps that can only harm people who have already done wrong is reasonable. A 50’ tall statue of a concrete gorilla holding a mailbox can both function as a mailbox, as art and defeat any attempts to harm the mailbox while also destroying your car if it skids off the road. It should also be totally legal and if you managed to damage it you should have to buy a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/124 "2021-06-24T21:30:41Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > Since that’s the case taking reasonable steps that can only harm people who have already done wrong is reasonable. Are you serious with this garbage? The driver “did wrong” and by implication had it coming? Pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/125 "2021-06-24T21:32:59Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Are you serious with this garbage? The driver “did wrong” and by implication had it coming? Pretty low Are you implying that losing control of your car and skidding off the road means you have a right not to crash? What if the homeowner had planted oak trees all around his mailbox? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/126 "2021-06-24T21:42:33Z")
Are you unable to grasp that there’s degrees of harm? Dude’s a fucking quadriplegic because this asshat installed a iron beam to be pissy over a fucking $50 mailbox. Shit, maybe he should have just opened fire on the kids and if he shot a passing car, so be it…he was defending his mailbox. I swear, it’s like this country has a fucking mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/127 "2021-06-24T21:57:22Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Are you unable to grasp that there’s degrees of harm? Dude’s a fucking quadriplegic because this asshat installed a iron beam to be pissy over a fucking $50 mailbox. Sure. Are you unable to understand that anytime you lose control of your car whether you hit a house, a car, or a mailbox there is a chance you can end up a quadriplegic. Car dude should lose and have to pay all of the legal expenses of the mailbox guy. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/128 "2021-06-24T23:16:09Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Dude’s a fucking quadriplegic because this asshat installed a iron beam to be pissy over a fucking $50 mailbox. S Maybe. Or maybe he would have been anyway. Or maybe he is hurt as he spun out of control on black ice- quite possibly for going too fast. Or maybe… The Courts have ruled the defendant is not liable. The mailbox did not cause the accident. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/129 "2021-06-24T23:53:02Z")
The law doesn’t deal in hypotheticals. We know what happened in this instance. You’re basically making the same argument the cops were making in the George Floyd and Eric Garner cases. That those guys were unhealthy or on drugs or might have had a heart attack whether they were choked or not. We know what happened and everything that happened as a result of the direct actions of the people involved are what we’re evaluating. And what the court finds is by no means the authority on the topic of right and wrong, as if we need more evidence of that bogus argument. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/130 "2021-06-24T23:58:16Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > We know what happened and everything that happened as a result of the direct actions of the people involved are what we’re evaluating. Right. A guy lost control of his car due to driving on ice and lost control of his car. He hit a permanent object on a property next to the road and flipped his car somewhere in the process he became a quadriplegic. The question is does it matter in the permanent object was an oak tree a grandfather planted, the house a father built or the mailbox the son set out the day before? I don’t see any difference in the type of permanent object or the recency with which it was placed on the owners property. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/131 "2021-06-25T00:02:06Z")
It does matter. He didn’t hit a tree or a house. He hit the man trap. This game of whataboutism is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/132 "2021-06-25T00:12:37Z")
[Moderating] @Omniscient, dial it way back. That’s far too hostile for GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/133 "2021-06-25T00:52:15Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > It does matter. He didn’t hit a tree or a house. He hit the man trap. Your wheels keep getting stolen off your car in your driveway at night. You put locktight on the lugnuts to prevent this. The next night, the robber uses extra torque to get the lugnuts off and this extra torque causes the car to fall of the jack and he is paralyzed. You created a man trap? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/134 "2021-06-25T01:06:11Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Because in these cases, the consequences are wildly disproportional to the trespass. Do you really think that serious bodily harm or death is a fair consequence of minor vandalism? Since the mailbox is not designed to harm someone there is nothing disproportionate to the consequences of an irrational act. Put another way there is nothing safe about swinging a bat from a moving car. It’s the irrational act that is responsible for the injury. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/135 "2021-06-25T02:38:33Z")
When I was growing up, the “cool kids” didn’t use bats, they used chunks of concrete. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/136 "2021-06-25T02:44:11Z")
There was an instance recently of someone trying to steel a catalytic converter from beneath a car when it came off the jack, crushing and killing him. Although it’s worth noting in this case that no modification was made to the converter to make it tamper-resistant. Just a freak accident. > **[Apparent Catalytic Converter Thief Crushed To Death By Collapsing Car In Anaheim](https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/apparent-catalytic-converter-thief-crushed-to-death-collapsing-car-anaheim/)** > > According to Anaheim police, the body of a man was found underneath a Toyota Prius at an auto repair lot on Placentia Avenue at about 6 a.m. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/137 "2021-06-25T03:02:47Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > There was an instance recently of someone trying to steel a catalytic converter from beneath a car when it came off the jack, crushing and killing him. Make way for the lawsuits! Unleash the kraken! Make that malicious vehicle owner, and the repair shop, and the vehicle manufacturer pay until the deceased comes back to life! Unfortunately, these are the kinds of news stories we never see the follow-ups on, so we may never know. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/138 "2021-06-25T03:06:06Z")
Apologies, it was a few years ago and though I tried Google could not find a reference to the case. As far as I recall an old man in a remote farmhouse got fed up with being burgled on a regular basis by the same group of travelers (gypsy’s). He obviously reported the incidents to the police who did not very much. Because he involved the police who did nothing, the burglars became bolder and made his life a misery by not only robbing him of just about everything that was left but also regularly taunting him outside his house. Like the video clip he set up a shotgun trap that one night wounded one or both of the burglars. As I mentioned the home owner got jail time and also sued by the burglar for loss of earnings because he couldn’t work due to his injuries received while comitting the burglary. Here was an old man living a quiet peaceful life who ended up homeless and in jail because of thieving scum who actually benefited financially for ruining an old mans life. Perhaps someone with better Google skills can find an reference to this story. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/139 "2021-06-25T04:57:10Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@Chickenwrangler](#): > > (gypsy’s) Note that many find the word “gypsy” to be offensive as it has often been used as a racial slur. While it is also true that some Romani do not find it offensive, many Romani and many other people do find it offensive, and as such it’s probably best to avoid it’s use. Wikipedia has a more in-depth discussion of the term, and if anyone wishes to discuss this further, please do so in a new thread. > **[Names of the Romani people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Romani_people)** > > The Romani people are also known by a variety of other names; in English as gypsies or gipsies, and Roma; in Greek as γύφτοι (gíftoi) or τσιγγάνοι (tsiggánoi), in Central and Eastern Europe as Tsingani (and variants); in France as gitans besides the dated terms bohémiens and manouches; in Italy as rom and sinti besides the dated terms zingari, zigani, and gitani; in Spain as gitanos; and in Portugal and Brazil as ciganos. > Self-designation also varies: In Central and Eastern Europe, Roma is commo... ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2021, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646/140 "2021-06-25T04:57:15Z")
I believe you are referring to [this case](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_David_Smith_killings). Not gypsies but neighborhood punk teenagers. The real crime was not that he shot them upon invading his house even though he was lying in wait expecting something. It was executing them after neutralizing the threat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-legality-of-deterring-mailbox-baseball/593646.md?page=8)