Florida man arrested after trying to cross Atlantic in hamster wheel vessel
bbc.co.uk
bbc.co.uk
Doing something probably dangerous to myself is a criminal offense is new to me. Besides, with such overbearing interferences the state will only hamper the pioneer spirit of American, one of the agreeable most important things that made America such a great nation.
Emergency responders are put at risk and tax payer money is wasted because of his actions.
What I agree with is that similar to "do not resucitstate" declarations/tattoos, you should be able to make an arrangement with the coast guard notifying them of your intent and waiving any rescue obligations on their end.
Or, he could just tow his craft with a boat until he enters international waters and start his attempt there.
There's calculated risk and there's stupid risk...this one falls into the latter.
Courts have repeatedly ruled that the government has no obligation to protect its citizens.[0,1]
If they didn't go after him and his family sued its a virtual certainty that they would lose.
[0]https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2018/12/17/cops-and-schools-had...
[1]https://prospect.org/justice/police-have-no-duty-to-protect-...
(Leaving obligations aside, USCG takes its mission very seriously, and 14 USC §521 gives them incredibly expansive powers to do whatever they deem necessary to protect lives and property on the high seas and coastal waters. Playing stupid games on deep waters is not something that the Coasties like to see.)
I found this[0] but it appears to be ongoing. The state appears to again argue they have no duty to rescue anyone.
[0]https://www.courthousenews.com/lawsuit-over-coast-guard-call...
Whether this would apply to the instant case is arguable, but turns mostly on the definition of when the duty of care kicks in (I think there's a decently-strong case to be made that once they stopped the "vessel," they pretty much didn't have an option to let it go). Interestingly, while SCOTUS has steadily limited government duty of care, this hasn't extended as much to conditions of public hazards where the police or government has specific knowledge of the risks: a cop doesn't have to charge into a school shooting situation to save your child, but there are conditions where, if they fail to correct a traffic hazard they had knowledge of and control over, you would have a case if you were injured. Hazards at sea are probably more similar to the latter case than the former.
It's worth noting that USCG doesn't have any statutory mandate to rescue anyone (their duties enumerated in 14 USC §102 say nothing about saving distressed mariners), so your fundamental point is correct: for example, if someone had called in "crazy guy in hamster wheel out at sea," USCG could likely decide "not my sea monkey, not my circus" and let it go; it's just that once they're on-site it's a more legally-fraught situation. (This is on top of the fact that the Coast Guard treats rescue as a core mandate, so no chance they weren't going to stop this guy from ending up Gulf Stream flotsam.)
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/33/177.07
The law (and others) seem to protect others from harm from the offender. Driving at night in a car with no brakes and no headlights is also illegal in my state. That seems to be in a similar vein.
> Besides, with such overbearing interferences the state will only hamper the pioneer spirit of American, one of the agreeable most important things that made America such a great nation.
Certainly something to be wary of but, to me, this isn’t the right example of innovation being hampered. The underlying “experiment” could have been perfectly legal with a few safeguards (for others) in place.
18 U.S.C. § 2237(a)(2)(A) - Obstruction of a Boarding
46 U.S.C. § 70036(b)(1) - Violation of a Captain of the Port Order
and the coast guard was attempting to use their authority to terminate the voyage under https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/46/4308
I'm sure if you think about it a little more you will realize the concept isn't new to yourself either.
He’s not serious about the endeavor, he’s a mentally ill troll looking for fame and publicity. All he needs is a support boat tagging along (at least to international waters), but then his failure and/or death would be on him alone.
Was he carried here by the current ? I can't imagine this device can really be efficient, am I wrong ?
Or should this be read as "70m away from Tybee Island, but still near the coast"?
It comes down to the state having procedures for reporting everything to the press and being open with what the police are doing. More than other states things like this don't require a journalist to do any discovering, all the facts are just there.