Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Treading on Thin Ice
Searches and Inspections in Noncriminal Cases.—Certain
early cases held that the Fourth Amendment was applicable only when a
search was undertaken for criminal investigatory purposes,71
and the Supreme Court until recently employed a reasonableness test for
such searches without requiring either a warrant or probable cause in
the absence of a warrant.
72 But in 1967, the Court held in two cases that administrative inspections to detect building code violations must be undertaken pursuant to warrant if the occupant objects.73 "We may agree that a routine inspection of the physical condition of private property is a less hostile intrusion than the typical policeman's search for the fruits and instrumentalities of crime… But we cannot agree that the Fourth Amendment interests at stake in these inspection cases are merely 'peripheral.'
It is surely anomalous to say that the individual and his private property are fully protected by the Fourth Amendment only when the individual is suspected of criminal behavior."
74 Certain administrative inspections utilized to enforce regulatory schemes with regard to such items as alcohol and firearms are, however, exempt from the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement and may be authorized simply by statute.75
68 Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963). Such evidence is the "fruit of the poisonous tree," Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 341 (1939), that is, evidence derived from the original illegality. Previously, if confessions were voluntary for purposes of the self-incrimination clause, they were admissible notwithstanding any prior official illegality. Colombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (1961).
The Town is In Violation of Your Civil rights if they come in without a warrant.
You can object!!!!
Tell the Code Inspector to....
72 But in 1967, the Court held in two cases that administrative inspections to detect building code violations must be undertaken pursuant to warrant if the occupant objects.73 "We may agree that a routine inspection of the physical condition of private property is a less hostile intrusion than the typical policeman's search for the fruits and instrumentalities of crime… But we cannot agree that the Fourth Amendment interests at stake in these inspection cases are merely 'peripheral.'
It is surely anomalous to say that the individual and his private property are fully protected by the Fourth Amendment only when the individual is suspected of criminal behavior."
74 Certain administrative inspections utilized to enforce regulatory schemes with regard to such items as alcohol and firearms are, however, exempt from the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement and may be authorized simply by statute.75
68 Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (1963). Such evidence is the "fruit of the poisonous tree," Nardone v. United States, 308 U.S. 338, 341 (1939), that is, evidence derived from the original illegality. Previously, if confessions were voluntary for purposes of the self-incrimination clause, they were admissible notwithstanding any prior official illegality. Colombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568 (1961).
The Town is In Violation of Your Civil rights if they come in without a warrant.
You can object!!!!
Tell the Code Inspector to....
A Bizaare Possibility
Thaddeus Drinkwater tells me that there is a possibility that the hotel/motel tax could suffer a major hit with the pipeline situation.
There is some word going around that Silvercreek might be the base for pipeline workers locally.
Dominion might decide to rent the rooms there instead of other rooms in the county. There seems to be some question in the law as to whether a mere rental property charges the hotel/motel tax. This could hurt in two ways.
First of all, the hm tax from the rooms rented during the busy season (when temp is cold enough to dig in the ground) would correspond to the ski season.
For every room rented, there would be one less room to be rented to a tourist. Plus, the county would lose a substantial sum from the tax paid by tourists. It's a kind of two edged sword. We wouldn't get the hotel/motel tax from the pipeline workers nor the tax from the skiers because the rooms would be reserved for non tax paying pipeline workers.
The only hope would be that this situation might be mitigated by local lodging in other private facilities in the county such as Marlinton Motor Inn, Marlinton Lodging, and B&Bs.
The loss of the h/m tax could be a major loss for our library system.
There is some word going around that Silvercreek might be the base for pipeline workers locally.
Dominion might decide to rent the rooms there instead of other rooms in the county. There seems to be some question in the law as to whether a mere rental property charges the hotel/motel tax. This could hurt in two ways.
First of all, the hm tax from the rooms rented during the busy season (when temp is cold enough to dig in the ground) would correspond to the ski season.
For every room rented, there would be one less room to be rented to a tourist. Plus, the county would lose a substantial sum from the tax paid by tourists. It's a kind of two edged sword. We wouldn't get the hotel/motel tax from the pipeline workers nor the tax from the skiers because the rooms would be reserved for non tax paying pipeline workers.
The only hope would be that this situation might be mitigated by local lodging in other private facilities in the county such as Marlinton Motor Inn, Marlinton Lodging, and B&Bs.
The loss of the h/m tax could be a major loss for our library system.
There is no such thing as an International Building Code
A building code is what the inspector says it is....
Note: The 2015 International Codes are now available. However, at the time of this writing, a single, uniform building code is still not a reality in the United States, let alone in the "International" community as the name implies.
Simply put, government agencies do not always work as quickly as the private building sector. Even though the three major code organizations (BOCA, ICBO, SBCCI) have all been consolidated into a single building code organization (ICC) most local inspection agencies use building codes that are several years old.
Worse still, virtually every government jurisdiction that controls building permits and inspections has modified the 'standard' codes to some extent. So, be sure to check with your local department of permits and licenses to see exactly which building codes — and their respective revision dates and modificiations — are applicable to your specific project.
Note: The 2015 International Codes are now available. However, at the time of this writing, a single, uniform building code is still not a reality in the United States, let alone in the "International" community as the name implies.
Simply put, government agencies do not always work as quickly as the private building sector. Even though the three major code organizations (BOCA, ICBO, SBCCI) have all been consolidated into a single building code organization (ICC) most local inspection agencies use building codes that are several years old.
Worse still, virtually every government jurisdiction that controls building permits and inspections has modified the 'standard' codes to some extent. So, be sure to check with your local department of permits and licenses to see exactly which building codes — and their respective revision dates and modificiations — are applicable to your specific project.
If Moses would have had to comply with a building code, he would still be trying to get the Israelites through the Red Sea.
Marlinton Makes Adjustment to the 4th Amendment
The town council locked on a vote to alter the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with the Mayor casing his vote in favor of altering the 4th Amendment.
The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Bill of Rights has been around for about 240 years but it stood no defense before the town council. They decided to make an exception to it with only one caveat--"reasonable time" to be exercised.
As it stands now there is one person, the building inspector, who is able to search your home for code violations without a search warrant.
No building in Marlinton is excepted including churches, rest homes, and other private facilities. The "visit" is totally at the will of the building inspector. Not even a judge has to issue a warrant for a search of your home. The building inspector has been given the "golden key" to your privacy. He has the run of your home, business, or place of worship.
So if you hear a knock at your door, you may want to flush the commode and sweep the floors because if he walks in and sees "unsanitary" or unsafe conditions he can evict you from your home immediately. (You may want to thank your mayor for this disturbance to your peace.)
The 4th Amendment to the U.S. Bill of Rights has been around for about 240 years but it stood no defense before the town council. They decided to make an exception to it with only one caveat--"reasonable time" to be exercised.
As it stands now there is one person, the building inspector, who is able to search your home for code violations without a search warrant.
No building in Marlinton is excepted including churches, rest homes, and other private facilities. The "visit" is totally at the will of the building inspector. Not even a judge has to issue a warrant for a search of your home. The building inspector has been given the "golden key" to your privacy. He has the run of your home, business, or place of worship.
So if you hear a knock at your door, you may want to flush the commode and sweep the floors because if he walks in and sees "unsanitary" or unsafe conditions he can evict you from your home immediately. (You may want to thank your mayor for this disturbance to your peace.)
Saturday, August 26, 2017
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