# Why are Area 51 trespassers arrested by the sheriff, not the Feds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2015, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147 "2015-06-10T05:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/21 "2015-06-13T16:41:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > We’ve already done it, though I can’t find the thread. Consensus is that it wouldn’t work. What wouldn’t work? The trial of the accused or the argument to set him free? ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/22 "2015-06-13T23:30:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > We’ve already done it, though I can’t find the thread. Consensus is that it wouldn’t work. > **[Getting away with MURDER!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=728801)** > > Suppose I’m in a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with one other person. An annoying person. One of those people you can’t punch just once. So one day, I decide I’m sick and tired of him, so I bash him over the head with an oar and kill... Starting at post #11. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/23 "2015-06-14T01:40:34Z")
I can’t imagine the Feds prosecuting you for trespassing at a government installation that “doesn’t exist.” ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/24 "2015-06-14T03:57:34Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I can’t imagine the Feds prosecuting you for trespassing at a government installation that “doesn’t exist.” Technically, they don’t need to prosecute anybody–those signs warning of deadly force make that quite clear. Anyhow, they admit now that it exists–but even if they didn’t, they could still come up with something–maybe violating an environmentally sensitive area. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/25 "2015-06-14T04:28:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You’d be surprised. In any event, federal criminal agencies are generally only going to throw their weight around over serious crimes, or those which cannot appropriately be investigated or prosecuted by local authorities. A state often has laws parallel to those of the Federal codes, so state and local LEOs can act to enforce those state laws. For example, there have long been (or there were) Federal statutes prohibiting bars and pubs within a certain radius of any US military installation, including VA campuses; the California PC has had its own similar laws. I’m assuming those laws still exist, given that no pubs exist along Santa Monica Boulevard between Bundy and Sepulveda, just south of the West L.A. VA, despite local geographic and demographic factors that would be conducive to successful pubs. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/26 "2015-06-14T06:44:34Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > A state often has laws parallel to those of the Federal codes, so state and local LEOs can act to enforce those state laws. For example, there have long been (or there were) Federal statutes prohibiting bars and pubs within a certain radius of any US military installation, including VA campuses; the California PC has had its own similar laws. I’m assuming those laws still exist, given that no pubs exist along Santa Monica Boulevard between Bundy and Sepulveda, just south of the West L.A. VA, despite local geographic and demographic factors that would be conducive to successful pubs. In South Portland, Maine there are several bars in walking distance from an Air National Guard base. Are you sure those laws aren’t just a California thing? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/27 "2015-06-14T09:32:38Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > [Getting away with MURDER! - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=728801) > > Starting at post #11. To be honest, that discussion did not really refute Kalt’s argument, beyond an apodictic statement that it would be “frivolous”, which I think is a rather thin argument compared to a reasoning based on the actual wording of the Sixth Amendment. I’m not saying Kalt’s plan woudl work, but that thread is surely not a thorough analysis of it. The counter-arguments presented in Kalt’s paper were much more solid. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/28 "2015-06-14T11:58:14Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > In South Portland, Maine there are several bars in walking distance from an Air National Guard base. Are you sure those laws aren’t just a California thing? Back in mid 80’s, there quite a few bars/pubs within a few blocks (two or three at most) from one of the main entrances to Ft Sill, OK. I know this as I frequented, during my time of service, one that had live bands almost every night. The band Pantera played there every Thursday night (before they got ‘big’ and went to much biggger venues/tours, fwiw) with the added bonus of all the beer you could drink for five dollars. Always packed, and fights aplenty. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2015, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147/29 "2015-07-15T06:36:34Z")
> [@boffking](#): > > In South Portland, Maine there are several bars in walking distance from an Air National Guard base. Are you sure those laws aren’t just a California thing? The National Guard (both Air and otherwise) actually comprises the 51 volunteer militias [operated by the 50 states and D.C.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_National_Guard) Although they are an arm of the national military services, they are still run by the individual states. To be fair, they can be federalized as required, by order of the POTUS, but even when this occurs, it’s not clear to me that ANG/NG installations would then be considered federal military bases for the purposes of laws such as this. Note that when I say “bars” I mean only the kind of establishment that exists primarily to sell alcoholic drinks and doesn’t offer any food for sale other than typical bar snacks and fare like bangers and mash in the pubs run by English expats. Full service restaurants, on the other hand, are very common in the West L.A. VA neighborhood, and almost all of them are licensed to serve wine and beer. IIRC, I’m pretty sure that we were once served [sambuca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambuca) at an Italian restaurant many years ago. A curious relic of the old California law was an exemption for alcohol sold by a licensed pharmacist on prescription. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-area-51-trespassers-arrested-by-the-sheriff-not-the-feds/722147.md?page=1)