• prayer
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    5 months ago

    A famous legal case defining what is and isn’t allowed for defense of property, specifically about lethal booby traps to stop trespassing. It basically says that you can’t use lethal force to defend property using booby traps as they are indiscriminate and therefore cannot determine if certain criteria (i.e. reasonable fear for your life) are met.

    • mindbleach
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      5 months ago

      … because Katko used a mousetrap and a shotgun shell to blow a dude’s leg off. Over some antique jars.

      It’s one of those cases where the jury immediately knows a line has been crossed and just needs to hash out how far back.

    • verity_kindleM
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      5 months ago

      Thanks for the context, I thought the “Katko test” might be a funni/memey reference. TIL! Happy Cake Day!