Following on from my post re elder relative (hubbys) refusing to put his bible away and leave when i have a no religious callers sign up as he knows plus i am d'ad i am going to write to the congregation from us both andsay what happenned and not to call or itwill be trespassing and i will take further action. Does anyone know if i could takefurther action/police etc orwould this justbe an empty threat? Just wantto make sure they bog off and stop doing this to us, Thanks!
Can you threaten jws with getting police if they don't keep away?
by dobbie 17 Replies latest jw friends
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Mandette
You would have to check with your local police. Most municipalities in the United States have no trespassing laws. In my jurisdiction, you have to ban the person from the property usually in the presence of a police officer. This varies from place to place as it's usually a local ordinance. And at least in my area if you call the police for an "unwanted" and they(JW) gets loud or resistant then that's a trip to jail. I doubt the JW's want that type of attention. I think once you call the police on them they know that you're serious and the others will leave you alone. Hopefully the letter will do the trick and you won't have to resort to calling the police. Mandette
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james_woods
I think that a specific "no soliciting, no Jehovah's Witnesses" sign should be upheld by almost any city in the United States.
There was a so-called "Green River Ordinance" (I believe in the 1940s?) that attempted to quash all door-to-door solicitations, but it was ruled unconstitutional partly by efforts of the WTS legal department. Ironically, the court held against it more for political campaign reasons, rather than the needs & rights of the WTS to sell watchtower magazines!
However, I believe that the final determination upheld the right of the home owner or tenant to post a "no soliciting" notice and this should be enforceable as a privicy right.
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shamus100
Depends on your country. Call the police and find out is my best answer.
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Finally-Free
When I DA'd I told them in my letter that any future tresspassing or harassment would be reported to the police. They didn't come back.
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OUTLAW
You can call the police..You can put up signs..JW`s don`t care..They are going to call regardless..I had a prominent sign on my door..Every JW that called claimed not to see it..Even though I could see and hear them talking about the sign,before they knocked.......They had no problem lying to my face.............
...OUTLAW -
undercover
Can you threaten jws with getting police if they don't keep away?
The short answer is yes. You can threaten all you want.
But if you want it to stick it's important to know the law before you threaten to call the police or take legal action. If someone keeps coming back to your home after being told not to and the law has means to protect you from that, such as trespassing laws, then take advantage of that law. Tell the offending person next time they show up just what you're going to do and then do it.
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Finally-Free
The short answer is yes. You can threaten all you want.
I told them in writing to cease their trespassing and harassment or police would be called. I wasn't sure the police would actually charge them, but I figured that most (normal) people would get the point after reading my letter. They had absolutely nothing to gain by coming to my home again, and most (normal) people would rather not be visited by police and questioned. (Of course, there's always the occasional idiot who thinks he has to prove something.)
After I moved, some of them were watching my home, presumably to see if I had any women staying over. (I was DA'd, but maybe my ex wanted a "scriptural divorce".) My neighbours provided me with the makes, models, and license numbers of the vehicles. I contacted a couple of JWs, but they denied there was anyone staking out my home. But I told them I filed a police report (which I didn't) and the surveillance stopped.
Even if JWs can get around trespassing, stalking, and harassment laws, most wouldn't want the hassle of having cops knock on their doors.
W
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Gregor
I think the fact that this was a close relative, not just a JW stranger ignoring your sign, would complicate the issue. A policeman called into this kind of squabble, I think, would be a waste of time and police resources.
In trying to understand this situation as you have described it I keep coming to the same conclusion. This is up to your husband to resolve if he chooses to. In other words, does he have any balls and if so how big are they?
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rebel8
I responded in your other thread but will elaborate here. It's different in every country of course. I've done extensive research on this and in fact returned to this forum after a long break because I found out some new info.
In my location, I'm told "no trespassing" signs are the first step but alone are not enough to get legal action taken (arrest or lawsuit). You can call the police for someone ignoring the sign but they will just shoo them away, no arrest--not much point in calling the cops if you're able to shoo them away yourself.
I'm told it is legal to "trespass" for valid purposes, such as mail delivery or selling Girl Scout cookies. jws would fall into this category.
I'm told you must notify the individual that they are not to return to your property, and write down the person's name and the date you told him not to come back. When they come back, you tell them they are under citizen's arrest and they are not to flee. Then you call 911 and tell the police you put the person under arrest and to come and get the guy. The police can refuse to "honor" your arrest if they feel it's bogus.
Citizen's arrest is a little-known legal right here and it's a pretty easy thing to do.
Here, if you feel your safety or property is in jeopardy, you can use force to stop the person. This does not mean you won't have a lot of lawyers' bills, public outrage, etc. to deal with afterwards. There was an article online, allegedly written by an attorney, who claimed there is legal basis for deadly force for trespassing alone. This seems to be a legal theory that hasn't been tested (no precedent).
The wts wrote a letter to elders telling the dubbians to respect "no trespassing" signs (does not apply to "no soliciting" signs). The flock and even elders I've called on the carpet are often unaware of this letter.
In the US there is a precedent for a lawsuit. A homeowner won a suit because he/she kept getting woken up by the same individual jw and claimed monetary damages.
I'm told a registered letter to a kingkongregation is not useful, because you won't prevail in any action against an individual based on a letter you sent to a group.
Apologies if I've gotten any of this wrong. I don't have any legal expertise, just passing on what I've been told.
...OUTLAW