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Legal question

Wow. This is intriguing.

I actually have a large pepper plant growing on my front porch, wouldn’t even think to move it for fear of a lawsuit.  Are you kidding? Really? A perfectly legal thing (growing food) a practice done throughout the ages, now impacted because someone who has no right to it may experience discomfort?  I’m not buying into that at all.  Different if it were somehow “lethal” and folks could die. Great discomfort, well then it’s a self-correcting problem.
 
Sure, you can hire an attorney to try and sue anybody for anything. They will happily take your money as long as you pay – win or lose.
 
Extrapolate the scenario onto peanut farmers. We certainly all know about the “nut allergy” phenomenon. Seems as though I hear about it every day, or see the signs, menus etc..  So precisely what do you think would be the requirements under this line of reasoning concerning lawsuits? Fence in the entire area? Place warning placards on all the tractors and equipment? What if some kid climbs the fence and gets inside and eats the peanuts? How tall should the fence be? Maybe he couldn’t read the signs due to age, illiteracy or perhaps not the language the signs were written in. How many different languages should the signs be? What about birds, rodents etc. who may scatter the nuts outside the “fenced in,” “roped off,” “locked down” hazardous production areas, are the farmers responsible for this as well?  The possibilities and scenarios are endless.  Blah blah blah.
 
Cower in fear if you choose, as for me,  my "rights" will not be impacted by such absurdities. :violin:    
 
 
sign.jpg
 
SpeakPolish said:
Attractive Nuisance might be a problem though.
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An attorney woulld have a hard time convincing most that hot peppers are a nuisance, especially around here... lol.
 
 iirr, Attractive Nuisance is more for a loaded shot gun (right next to the rocking chair) left on a front porch, or a case of beer on your lawn by the street and the twelve year old child next door drank them all, or a child fell into a no fenced pool and died...
 
Suppose a court would first have to determine if a garden pepper was considered a 'attractive nuisance'. I say hell no.
 
  I dislike current tort laws.
 
jmo
 
Got a nice pot of ripe hot Apache by my front door for guest to munch on while waiting..
Or they can go for the very hot Chilies on my walk way...
 
 

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solid7 said:
A definitive answer cannot be garnered from a forum, such as this.  We all live in different places, subject to different laws and ordinances.
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My question is - why would we even care what other people do, when we have no control over their actions?  Either someone is, or is not, going to to trespass.  We can't control that.  Someone is, or is not, going to steal.  No control.  Is or is not, going to injure themselves.  No control.
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My answer is much more philosophical, than legal.  But if you live in a world where everything is a constant state of worry and anxiety over "what might" happen if someone does something that they shouldn't do, is it really worth living? 
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I actually have this theory that, the more we obsess over things, they more likely they are to manifest themselves as reality.  To combat it, I just decided to stop giving a shit about most everything.  It really works well. ;)
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I like this answer.  
Do a search on common landscape ornamental's that are deadly.  A lot of home's have these intentionally planted to decorate the property.  Most all garden centers sell them and I have never seen a warning tag on them!  Some have berries that could be inviting to a child or a dog with a taste for bright colorful fruit!  Should we consider removing these ornamental's?
I have peppers out front and beside my house.  None are in the backyard.  Mostly because that is fenced in for my dog and he would just dig them up or pee all over them.
I guess somebody would/could sue but until then, happy growing.
 
Yeah, but I'm the only one that cited to a (ahem), legal source . . .  :P
 
DontPanic said:
Funny thing about this ole Internet.
 
Whatever answer anyone kinda-sorta had in my mind before opening this thread is here, with a decent, well thought-out rationale.
 
All I gotta do is pick the answer that already fits my world-view.  :)
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catchthebear said:
Relevant reddit topic: http://removeddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/bv3cou/a_group_of_neighborhood_kids_hurt_themselves_on/
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This is the first thing I thought of, too. Looks like she posted something of an update:
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/spicy/comments/bvaaoz/stupid_kids_have_a_hot_pepper_eating_contest_in_a/epnczwc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
 
It's an interesting legal question. Fear of lawsuits wouldn't stop me from planting out front, but there's enough ambiguity in the law to make me worry if someone actually threatened me with a lawsuit like in that reddit thread. 
 
Tybo said:
 
...Do a search on common landscape ornamental's that are deadly.  A lot of home's have these intentionally planted to decorate the property.  Most all garden centers sell them and I have never seen a warning tag on them!  Some have berries that could be inviting to a child or a dog with a taste for bright colorful fruit!  Should we consider removing these ornamental's?...
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Yes, we should absolutely remove those ornamentals... But not due to fear of litigation. We should remove them to increase available space for chile plants ️️️️
 
I live on a street where there are a lot of people that walk for exercise. I also have fruit trees planted along the edge of my property. And people think nothing, absolutely nothing of stealing my fruits. They think 'just one won't hurt'.  I also used to have a blueberry patch in front. And more than once people walked into my yard and were picking the berries!  Also an entire crop of winter squash was stolen from the front yard.  And more. And this is an upscale-ish neighborhood. People were not stealing my stuff because they were hungry! They stole it because they saw it.
 
As for growing seriously hot peppers in front, especially near the street where people walk, I dont think I'd do it. Sure it's our right to plant what we want where we want, yadda, yadda, but if you can plant them elsewhere (in the back) I'd do that instead. As others have mentioned, we live in a litigious society. If a pepper is hot enough, and a stupid really young kid grabs one ...and then rubs his eyes...  you never know. 
 
I've know 3 people that have been frivolously sued over the years, including my parents. All eventually won their cases. But, it took many months to finish, and there was great worry the entire time. It just hangs over you every day. And then there were lawyers fees, etc. 
 
If you are worried that something like this might happen, and you can easily plant elsewhere, do that. Or not....   
 
 
 
You lot are a bunch of sissies, for real...  :hmm:
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I honestly can't believe that anyone would let someone scare them out of planting a pepper plant in their own yard.  We have a society like this, because it's what we allow.  Imagine if our founding fathers had paid the tea tax.  Where's the fun in that?
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It's no wonder that deviants and miscreants have every advantage over the law-abiding.  So un-clever are the fearful...
 
I don't know which of us you're calling a sissy, but I'm the guy with a 90% ripe Brown Naglah dangling <36" from the sidewalk. No "caution" signs, no barriers... Just 14 plants--the mildest of which are 2 Bhut Assam Yellows-- and dirt. And my mailbox. That's it.

I hope no passers-by eat that Naglah. Not bc I fear litigation, but bc I REALLY want to eat it myself.
 
Bicycle808 said:
I don't know which of us you're calling a sissy
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Hahahaha...  Total fairness achieved.  Nobody knows who I'm talking about, everyone is left to ponder. (is he talking about me, or that other guy?)
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Got my own Project Mayhem going here.  The first rule of Project Mayhem: Don't ask questions about Project Mayhem. (sir)
 
My Brazilian girlfriend tells me in Brazil its good luck to hang hot peppers all over your property. Some hang them over the front door and adorn the mailbox... Hmmm,  think my mailbox would be a great place for one of my Scorpion T , maybe hang it from the tree right above the mailbox..?
 
 
 
solid7 said:
 
 
Hahahaha...  Total fairness achieved.  Nobody knows who I'm talking about, everyone is left to ponder. (is he talking about me, or that other guy?)
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Got my own Project Mayhem going here.  The first rule of Project Mayhem: Don't ask questions about Project Mayhem. (sir)
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I am 100% confident that I fall miles and miles outside of the sissy camp. You just gotta make sure you understand that.

Otherwise, I'm liable to sue you for defamation of character. ️️
 
Bicycle808 said:
Otherwise, I'm liable to sue you for defamation of character. ️️
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i have a whole life crafted around the notion of insulating myself from such.
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- I don't rely on credit. (so judgements wouldn't mean anything)
- I don't live in a state that garnishes wages for civil suits.
- I am an independent contractor/consultant - nobody employs me as a person, just a resource.
- I don't care if I'm sued.  I probably won't even show up.
- I wouldn't pay on a frivolous judgement.
- I don't buy things.  Having nothing means that there's nothing to take from me.
- I'll probably appeal the judgement in the 11th hour of the statue of limitations - just to annoy you.
- I know alot of people all over the country.  Everyone that i know who has asshole kids , the kids like me.  You don't want to face that army. I know someone near you. :D
- I already have a plan in place to spend my entire estate before I die.  I travel alot. :)
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What that means, is that you will pay the lawyer.  Not me.  You'll take time off work.  Not me.  You'll be frustrated with court dates.  Not me.  You'll wait for payment on the judgement which never comes.
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Ironically, after all of that, I don't plant peppers in the front yard.  She doesn't let me.  She's the only restraining force (for now) in my otherwise anarchistic life  :hmm:
 
I'm hoping nobody stops on the gravel road in front of my house and hikes the 400 feet to the side of my house (where my garden is located) and consumes a Reaper that hospitalizes them.   Maybe I should just yank them all now.  
 
solid7 said:
 
- I know alot of people all over the country.  Everyone that i know who has asshole kids , the kids like me.  You don't want to face that army. I know someone near you. :D
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Ironically, after all of that, I don't plant peppers in the front yard.  She doesn't let me.  She's the only restraining force (for now) in my otherwise anarchistic life  :hmm:
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You might be knowing a lot of people, but I know her.
 
j/k
 
This topic hits close to home.. I have a common open space next to my house where kids play baseball, play with their dogs etc.
I have all these super hots growing in my backyard and I don't have a fence. God I hope that no kid gets an idea of coming and eating a super hot.
Not due to the fear of getting sued but I fear for the kids.
 
saiias said:
You might be knowing a lot of people, but I know her.
 
j/k
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Listen, man...  I'm a realist.  The truth is, I'm one Mr. Right away from peppers in the front yard.
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And if you really know her, then you know what baggage she brings.  She gave me her best years.  God bless you. :D
 
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