30 Days in Jail for Catching Rain Water

[Hum]

(CNSNews.com) ? Gary Harrington, the Oregon man convicted of collecting rainwater and snow runoff on his rural property surrendered Wednesday morning to begin serving his 30-day, jail sentence in Medford, Oregon.

?I?m sacrificing my liberty so we can stand up as a country and stand for our liberty,? Harrington told a small crowd of people gathered outside of the Jackson County (Oregon) Jail.

Several people held signs that showed support for Harrington as he was taken inside the jail.

Harrington was found guilty two weeks ago of breaking a 1925 law for having, what state water managers called ?three illegal reservoirs? on his property. He was convicted of nine misdemeanors, sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined over $1500 for collecting rainwater and snow runoff on his property.

The Oregon Water Resources Department, claims that Harrington has been violating the state?s water use law by diverting water from streams running into the Big Butte River. :wacko:

But Harrington says he is not diverting the state's water -- merely collecting rainwater and snow melt that falls or flows on his own property.

Harrington has vowed to continue to fight the penalty, stating that the government has become ?big bullies? and that ?from here on in, I?m going to fight it.?

?They?ve just gotten to be big bullies and if you just lay over and die and give up, that just makes them bigger bullies, Harrington said in an interview two weeks ago with CNSNews.com.

"We as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we?ll prevail,? he said.

His release is expected in early September.

source

[+DKAngel Subscriber²]

lol out here in australia ud be a hero for collecting rain water as we have none :p

[jnelsoninjax]

Harrington was found guilty two weeks ago of breaking a 1925 law for having, what state water managers called ?three illegal reservoirs? on his property. He was convicted of nine misdemeanors, sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined over $1500 for collecting rainwater and snow runoff on his property.

WTF? 30 days in jail for catching rainwater? Seems that they might want to update a law that is almost 90 years old...

[Patrick831]

That is a dumb law! Although it could be worse i guess. He could have eaten Ice Cream on Sunday! (Yes, there is a law in Oregon about not eating Ice Cream on Sundays) 0-o

[Lingwo]

My dad would be doing life if they saw the amount of rain water he has collected over the past year :laugh:

[psionicinversion]

these old ass laws need to be scrapped cus there bloody stupid. Maybe it was illegal in 1925 due to ppl catching disease off untreated stuff or someat. Its all a big pile of BS

[Hum]

Sad when governments own the water that falls from the sky. :/

[Anibal P]

Sad when governments own the water that falls from the sky. :/

Well all you really own is the top foot or so of your property, anything past that belongs to the government, hence why you have no say if they come drilling on your property

[CG-88]

That is a dumb law! Although it could be worse i guess. He could have eaten Ice Cream on Sunday! (Yes, there is a law in Oregon about not eating Ice Cream on Sundays) 0-o

lol there are tonnes of random laws like that all around the world. Crazy stuff.

[threetonesun]

I feel like there must be more to this. I mean, the law is still relevant, if you were a private land owner who owned a large piece of land that fed a public reservoir, and you decided to build your own reservoirs to capture that water before it made it to the public one, that would (could) be pretty detrimental to a large number of people.

[ahhell]

I feel like there must be more to this. I mean, the law is still relevant, if you were a private land owner who owned a large piece of land that fed a public reservoir, and you decided to build your own reservoirs to capture that water before it made it to the public one, that would (could) be pretty detrimental to a large number of people.

Most likely he was sacrificing his "liberty" by being a complete *******. There's always far more to a story like than what is reported. He's probably serving time for contempt of court.

Also, WTF kind of bias **** for a source is that?!?! That is probably most biased site that I've ever had the displeasure of visiting.

This "story" is looking more and more like complete BS.

Update: I can't find a single source that doesn't come from some biased rant/agenda site. :rolleyes:

[Hum]

Well all you really own is the top foot or so of your property, anything past that belongs to the government, hence why you have no say if they come drilling on your property

That oil is all mine mine mine ! :woot:

[KingCracker]

Well all you really own is the top foot or so of your property, anything past that belongs to the government, hence why you have no say if they come drilling on your property

That's right, you can own the property but someone else can own the mineral rights. Would suck to own some land then all the sudden people come in and start digging away, its happened though.

[FlintyV]

"We as Americans, we need to stand on our constitutional rights, on our rights as citizens and hang tough. This is a good country, we?ll prevail,? he said.

There's a right to collect water?

[Hum]

There's a right to collect water?

That would fall under 'certain unalienable rights' -- as in human survival. ;)

[FlintyV]

That would fall under 'certain unalienable rights' -- as in human survival. ;)

Yikes and you can be jailed for that? Crazy times.

Though it seems like the piece is missing some information. Surely you can't be jailed for collecting water, even if they classify them as reservoirs?

[Southern Patriot]

Well all you really own is the top foot or so of your property, anything past that belongs to the government, hence why you have no say if they come drilling on your property

Not sure where you got that idea, and maybe that is the case where you live, but it certainly isn't the case everywhere. If someone were to discover that there was oil, diamonds, etc. under my Dad's property here in Mississippi, they'd have to pay him for the mineral rights to get at it. A company had to do exactly that with my grandmother a while back, and some people in my wife's family own some land where they get royalties on the oil that is extracted there.

http://en.wikipedia..../Mineral_rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_and_gas_law_in_the_United_States

Seems that the only way that someone other than the property owner would own the mineral right was if they (or a previous owner) had sold those rights. The land my family lives on has been in our family since the early 1800s though (about the same year Mississippi became a state, if I remember correctly), so maybe that makes a difference.

[BillyJack]

That's right, you can own the property but someone else can own the mineral rights. Would suck to own some land then all the sudden people come in and start digging away, its happened though.

Not sure where you got that idea, and maybe that is the case where you live, but it certainly isn't the case everywhere. If someone were to discover that there was oil, diamonds, etc. under my Dad's property here in Mississippi, they'd have to pay him for the mineral rights to get at it. A company had to do exactly that with my grandmother a while back, and some people in my wife's family own some land where they get royalties on the oil that is extracted there.

http://en.wikipedia..../Mineral_rights

http://en.wikipedia....e_United_States

Seems that the only way that someone other than the property owner would own the mineral right was if they (or a previous owner) had sold those rights. The land my family lives on has been in our family since the early 1800s though (about the same year Mississippi became a state, if I remember correctly), so maybe that makes a difference.

I think it depends on the state you live in. Some states allow you to sell the mineral rights to you land, like Texas. So if you are going to buy land you want to make sure the mineral rights have not been sold. If they have and you are not aware of it then later you will be caught in the middle of a legal battle that you will loose. I am not sure about all of the laws for all of the states. I wonder if there is a law out there where you buy the land but do not own the land at a certain depth. How about the sky above you. Who owns that? I think there are laws for that too.

At the end it does not matter. If the government wants it they will bully out out of your land. Just ask the Native Americans. Other countries have done it in the past too. Even if you win it really does not matter. You are only renting the land. Stop paying taxes and your land will be taken away.

If I was that guy I would just **** away on his land and let it run into the reservoir but there are probably laws for that too. lol

[Southern Patriot]

If I was that guy I would just **** away on his land and let it run into the reservoir but there are probably laws for that too. lol

You don't live in a rural area, do you? I guess you don't understand how septic systems work outside of a city. That's exactly what the waste does anyway (after being filtered through miles of the water table underground).

And last year, Mississippi passed a law limiting eminent domain powers in our state, so it is a bit harder now for the government to take land away here: http://www.openmarket.org/2011/11/09/mississippi-voters-pass-initiative-restricting-eminent-domain-powers/

[tiagosilva29]

Laws should be always tested and updated.

[Hum]

This thread is making me thirsty. :p

[Southern Patriot]

Laws should be always tested and updated.

I agree. That law was probably passed in the aftermath of some massive drought or something.

[Growled Member]

I think someone was out to get him, especially seeing they used a 90 year old law to do it.