Xref: utzoo talk.politics.misc:6677 misc.legal:3320 alt.flame:1390
Path: utzoo!hoptoad!amdahl!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!GARNET.BERKELEY.EDU!gsmith
From: gsmith@GARNET.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene W. Smith)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,misc.legal,alt.flame
Subject: Re: The lawsuit of the year.
Message-ID: <8801200541.AA19851@garnet.berkeley.edu>
Date: 20 Jan 88 05:41:25 GMT
References: <199@fxgrp.UUCP> <10235@mimsy.UUCP> <18816@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <868@xn.LL.MIT.EDU>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: oreo!gsmith@violet.berkeley.edu (Gene Ward Smith)
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Organization: Garnet Gang Gems of Wisdom, Inc
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In article <868@xn.LL.MIT.EDU> olsen@ll-xn.UUCP (Jim Olsen) writes:
>In article <18816@bu-cs.BU.EDU> bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) writes:

>>You can't willfully enforce the law with the nose of a train...  Such
>>vigilantism is simply not allowed as much as it might appeal to your
>>rambo sense of justice.

>Railroads can and do enforce the law with the nose of a train.  They enforce
>their legal "right of way" to travel along the railway.  From time to time,
>they kill or maim people who obstruct this travel.  This is a regrettable
>but inevitable part of railroading.

>Given that, is a railroad obliged to stop or slow down a train when advised
>that protesters are voluntarily blocking the track?

>I submit that there is no such obligation.  If I voluntarily lie down on a
>railroad track, and have a witness call the railroad and tell them where I
>am and demand that trains be stopped there, is the railroad obliged to take
>any notice?  It would be nice if they slowed down, but they are within their
>rights to continue at full speed and expect me to fulfil my duty to clear
>the track.

 It is becoming increasingly clear that most likely the reason
Willson lost his legs is that too many people believe in this
institutional right to mayhem. As long as it is a corporation or
a government, you may maim or slaughter at will, and if someone
tries to stop you, then slaughter them also. This is the Death
Squad psychology operating in the USA. It is fascinating and
illuminating to see how many potential SS officers we have here
on the net. My my!

 I wish you jerks would all move to Paraguay where you belong.

ucbvax!brahms!gsmith      Gene Ward Smith/Brahms Gang/Berkeley CA 94720
Proud member of ECIS -- "An effete corps of impudent snobs" -- I division