2010-03-29, 10:51 AM
[color="#cc8899"]Scenario 1: Love note in a garbage can
Ann writes a love note to Billy, but decides against giving it to him and throws it into a garbage can after crumpling it up. Tim sees the note in the garbage and is curious, pulls it out, and reads it. After reading, he decides to share it with his friends. Ann finds out after the note has been passed around the entire school and is, naturally, extremely upset, claiming the note was her property and Tim shouldn't have taken it from the garbage.
Is something discarded in a garbage can considered to be personal property?
Scenario 2: A hat left on a park bench
Tom goes to his favorite park to read in the shade of a nice oak tree. He takes off his hat and places it beside him, losing himself in the world of his novel. He finishes the book and leaves, forgetting his hat on the bench. A passerby a while later sees the unattended hat, with the park empty of visitors, and claims it for his own. Tom returns to the park later still to find it missing and is quite frustrated.
Is something forgotten in a public location (or left unattended in general) still considered to be personal property?
Scenario 3: A jacket with identifying initials on the tag is left on a bus
Jane boards a bus while wearing her favorite red jacket, the tag inscribed with her initials J.M.S. She falls asleep with the jacket next to her, and wakes when the bus reaches her stop. She exits, leaving the jacket behind on the seat by mistake. A few days later she realizes what has happened and contacts the driver, inquiring about the jacket. He hasn't noticed any jacket left on the seats, and tells her such. A week later Jane happens upon someone wearing an identical jacket on the same bus route, and asks, suspicious, where they bought it, and if she can try it on. While doing so she sees the initials J.M.S on the tag in her handwriting, and berates the other woman for taking it.
Does Jane have valid reason to continue claiming the jacket as hers? Is an identifiable object with unique characteristics left unattended in a public location (or transit service) still considered personal property?
What I'm getting at involves the concept of theft when items are abandoned (willfully or otherwise) in a public location, and the concept of "finders keepers." Is it theft to take a willfully discarded item? Is it theft to take an obviously abandoned item, willfully or otherwise? Does the ability to identify an item without seeing it or it being described obligate the return of said item? If you found something, and someone later was able to describe it to you without seeing it, would you give it to them?[/COLOR]
Ann writes a love note to Billy, but decides against giving it to him and throws it into a garbage can after crumpling it up. Tim sees the note in the garbage and is curious, pulls it out, and reads it. After reading, he decides to share it with his friends. Ann finds out after the note has been passed around the entire school and is, naturally, extremely upset, claiming the note was her property and Tim shouldn't have taken it from the garbage.
Is something discarded in a garbage can considered to be personal property?
Scenario 2: A hat left on a park bench
Tom goes to his favorite park to read in the shade of a nice oak tree. He takes off his hat and places it beside him, losing himself in the world of his novel. He finishes the book and leaves, forgetting his hat on the bench. A passerby a while later sees the unattended hat, with the park empty of visitors, and claims it for his own. Tom returns to the park later still to find it missing and is quite frustrated.
Is something forgotten in a public location (or left unattended in general) still considered to be personal property?
Scenario 3: A jacket with identifying initials on the tag is left on a bus
Jane boards a bus while wearing her favorite red jacket, the tag inscribed with her initials J.M.S. She falls asleep with the jacket next to her, and wakes when the bus reaches her stop. She exits, leaving the jacket behind on the seat by mistake. A few days later she realizes what has happened and contacts the driver, inquiring about the jacket. He hasn't noticed any jacket left on the seats, and tells her such. A week later Jane happens upon someone wearing an identical jacket on the same bus route, and asks, suspicious, where they bought it, and if she can try it on. While doing so she sees the initials J.M.S on the tag in her handwriting, and berates the other woman for taking it.
Does Jane have valid reason to continue claiming the jacket as hers? Is an identifiable object with unique characteristics left unattended in a public location (or transit service) still considered personal property?
What I'm getting at involves the concept of theft when items are abandoned (willfully or otherwise) in a public location, and the concept of "finders keepers." Is it theft to take a willfully discarded item? Is it theft to take an obviously abandoned item, willfully or otherwise? Does the ability to identify an item without seeing it or it being described obligate the return of said item? If you found something, and someone later was able to describe it to you without seeing it, would you give it to them?[/COLOR]
