CW: Graphic stories and experiences.
Life is full of all kinds of events.
Events and things we can never unsee.
Or actions we can never undo.
I don't know if there is any way to be prepared to see the worst of life or to find yourself involved in such things.
It all just seems to happen.
A dark twist and turn can be just around each and every corner.
Redditor Similar_Helicopter27 wanted to see who would share about some of life's darker moments, so they asked:
"What's the most f**ked up thing you’ve ever did/saw?"
I've witnessed muggings and car accidents.
That's why I try not to leave the house.
Bounced Back
Kid Dancing GIFGiphy"I saw my little brother getting hit by a car and flying a few meters through the air when he was only 6 years old. Fortunately he didn’t even break a bone but damn, I‘ll never forget this."
ShaiHuludTheFirst
In a matter of seconds...
"The most f**ked up thing I’ve seen was a guy who had just been in a motorcycle accident bleeding out on the side of the freeway. He was clenching onto the hand of the girl who was the driver of the car involved. She was crying hysterically. I saw his hand turn white in a matter of seconds. I remember it whenever I see someone on a bike."
Mellopiex
Like a Movie
"I witnessed a bad car accident once. The car launched off of an overpass as I went under it. The car flipped several times. It was like something out of a movie. I was the first person on the scene, my wife called 911. It was not a pretty sight. wasn't much left of the person's body."
Upbeat-Character-938
That's a NYC Story
Bored Episode 15 GIF by The SimpsonsGiphy"Found a dead body on the sidewalk in front of my building on my third day living in NYC. When I told my supervisor about it at work, hoping to process it with someone, she just kind of brushed it off like 'welcome to New York.'"
quinnards
Only in New York is a dead person on the street just another ordinary day.
3AM
excuse me wtf GIF by Chicago FireGiphy"I tripped over a dead body in tall grass working an accident trying to find the missing passenger. It was 3am and raining."
HAWMadden
It was spiritually bad
"I worked for a horse training ranch for a month when I was a kid. Me and the dude I worked with found a cow that had been dead for a while out in the field. It was bloated and gonna' blow soon. We did not engage with the cow, we weren't prepared for a clean up that day."
"When we came back prepared for cleaning the next day it had ruptured and the smell was life changing. It was spiritually bad. Since I was basically an unpaid intern, the paid guys told me to take a hike. 14 year old me took a hike. I was a hard working kid and they knew it so let me off with that one."
ProfessorWhat42
Poor Baby
"The photo evidence for a child murder case that they showed in court when I worked for the department of human services. The parents wanted to retain custody of their older son which is why they were involved with CPS. I was 22. There were just countless pages we had to look at while the expert witnesses explained what we were seeing. The images are burned into my brain forever, and I’ll never forget his name as long as I live. That poor baby."
FloridaMomm
The Boy
"Saw a kid I knew get hit by a car, flip through the air, jump up and picked up one of his shoes and then collapse and got airlifted out. The rest of us were sitting on the corner eating hamburgers. Never saw him again. They said he was paralyzed."
"I brought his banged up bike and glasses and shoes back to my house but they never got picked up. My dad was on the volunteer fire department and managed the Medivac landing and was first on scene because we only lived a few doors down."
unwittyusername42
Silence
Sad Rabbit GIF by Muffin & NutsGiphy"Watching a car traveling at about 130mph in my rear view mirror almost hit me but instead hit the base of a bridge, the crunching sound then bodies flying everywhere, then total silence."
PinotGreasy
"The instant silence after so much noise is odd it is like a second but almost feels like several minutes of pure peacefulness then bam the sound is back and everything is crazy."
Ok_Dog_4059
Well, that is a lot of nightmares being relived.
Bless you all for sharing.
We're human, which means we all make mistakes. Some mistakes are simple, like making a wrong turn at the red light or snapping at someone we love when we're hungry. These are things that can be easily corrected or apologized for.
Committing a crime, though, may not be so easily rectified.
That is, if the person gets caught.
Ready for a juicy story, Redditor Lozepam asked:
"Redditors who have committed a crime and got away with it. What crime did you commit and what's the story?"
Rental Returns
"I was 10. I took my own mowing money and rented a copy of 'Megaman X'."
"I never took it back, ever. The store was open for another few years and eventually shut down. They told me I owed them hundreds of dollars for late fees."
"AND I F**KIN' GOT AWAY WITH IT."
- k0uch
Glitch in the System
"There was an Amazon price glitch, and I got two monitors for free. The first time was an accident, and the second time was to test the theory. I didn't want to do it a third time, because intentionally it can be a crime."
- KiwiCatPNW
All the Free Pizza
"I exploited a bug in Domino's pizza app."
"They said I can use only one coupon, but once I got to the payment page, there was an option to 'add coupon' if I tried to input another coupon it said, 'cannot redeem more than once.'"
"But it did allow one coupon that would randomly pop up in ads, I saved it in a notepad and it gave me a 40% discount."
"I used it like this for about two years. I used them for combo two pizza coupons or free stuff like deserts, garlic bread, and got a 40% discount."
- EastOrganization2392
School Hopping
"I used to break into schools when I was in high school."
"My friends and I would sneak out of the house around 2 AM and drive to various towns and climb up to the school roofs and try and find a way in most of the time successfully and sometimes not."
"We called it 'School hopping.'"
"We didn't destroy anything or do anything bad. It was just innocent fun."
"But we made it our mission to kick all of the balls off the roof that had been up there since probably forever so the kids would show up for school the next day with all the balls they lost back and ready to play with. We made that our main mission."
"But if we got caught, we'd probably go to jail."
"I moved to Japan 16 years ago after I finished college and even broke into a school in the Japanese countryside."
"Talk about a special kind of stupid... That would either have been jail in Japan or instant deportation back to the states if caught."
"But still here in Tokyo and yet to be arrested! Go me?"
"I'm an idiot."
- Few-Frosting-1398
Musical Karma
"Warning, this story is extremely 90's: I used to go to Tower Records (along with supporting my local record store lol!). Once I bought a copy of the live version of Pink Floyd's the wall there, unopened, and when I got it home both disks were dislodged from their backings and scratched to hell, unplayable."
"Not only did the Tower clerks refuse to take it back even for credit, but they were also super rude, laughing in my face to boot."
"So... I went back the next day and picked out a whole bunch of CDs I had my eye on and took them to the book section. Yes, they had a book section, ironically with a lot of books that encouraged stealing like 'Steal This Book.'"
"I took one of those large format art books like H.R. Giger or whatever, sat on the floor criss-cross applesauce, opened it my lap, then held the CDs underneath while I stripped off the security tags with a box-cutter on my keychain."
"Then I stuffed the ten or so CDs into the pockets of my huge cargo shorts (again, 90's), put the book back, and walked straight out through the metal detector."
"This worked so well, I did it every week all summer, until I had a whole new record collection courtesy of the Tower, when they could have just taken the damn album back."
"Never did anything like this again, and I realize I got carried away, but to this day, I don't feel bad about it."
- ThirstyHank
Anticlimactic Results
"When I was about ten, I found this shawl while shopping with my mom and insisted she buy it for me, but she refused, saying it was 'too expensive.'"
"I found a discount sticker on a random item in the store, peeled it off, and put it on the tag for the shawl, and then told my mother I found a second one that was cheaper."
"It worked. The store honored the discount on the sticker, and my mom bought me the shawl."
"I got home, put it in my drawer, but never wore it. It stayed there for almost a decade until I got rid of it."
- triSARAHtops22
Arsenic Samaritans
"The woods a few miles from my house had a huge mountain of old tires. A friend and I set them on fire, not realizing how quickly it would get out of hand."
"Before we knew it, there was a massive, out-of-control fire burning in the woods."
"We ran and called 911 and told them we were walking by and saw it. We were featured in the paper the next day as 'good Samaritans.'"
- DelTheInsane
Father and Son Crime-Bonding
"I don’t actually know if it’s a 'crime,' but what I would call 'industrial espionage.'"
"My dad is a big business guy. Many years ago, when I was just learning how to edit photos with something other than MS Paint and whatnot, my dad asked if I would make up some quotes for him with the company letterhead… of their competitor."
"A competitor was going to get a big sale because they were legitimately cheaper. So I made these quotes making it look like the competitor was actually going to be more expensive. It worked."
"I wish I remembered the dollar figure, but it was over 15 years ago and I really had no clue what I was involved in. Just wanted to make my dad happy and proud of me."
- MrLanesLament
You're Not Law-Abiding When You're Hungry
"I stole a Snickers out of Kmart when I was eight. I got it all the way home. I remember being paranoid about the wrapper before eventually burying it in the flower bed by the front porch."
- Cold_Durian1796
Continuing Education
"I never returned my college textbooks. Just forgot. Barnes and Noble absolutely hounded my a** for a couple of years, but I just never picked up the phone. I guess they eventually gave up."
"So now I have my very own little free library about Religion in Medieval Iberia. Yaaay."
- nicekona
Dangerous Chemistry
"Made napalm with some other kids in the neighborhood, put a little bit around the seat of a Porto potty and… whaddya know, turns out that’s enough to melt the entire Porto into a hot goo pile."
"The Fire Dept showed up and put it out while we watched from the bushes."
- AndyC-AndyDo
Increasing Gnome Population
"I grew up in a small town. One night, my best friend and I broke into the fairgrounds and stole a bunch of s**t. Little gnomes, planters, flags, etc."
"We then put them randomly all over town. It made the small little paper and everyone was perplexed. It was me!"
- Immajustbrowse19
Phone Hacking
"Back when phones were still using old tech and payphones were still around, you could play tones into the phone to make it think you put money in."
"When I was a teenager, I used to make and sell 'red boxes' that would let you do that. It cost about $10 for the parts from Mouser electronics, and I sold them for $50."
- CyberneticPanda
The Tell-Tale Heart
"I stole a necklace from a gas station when I was five years old. I asked my mom for it and she said no, so I shoved it in my pocket. I got away with it and was never caught."
"However, the guilt was eating me alive. I couldn't stand to wear the necklace so I buried it in the backyard."
"Somehow, being denied the catharsis of punishment was worse than if I had just been caught and punished."
"I worried for at LEAST three years that I would be found out."
- glitterlipgloss
Quirky Steals
"When I was a kid I stuffed my pockets with coffee beans from Kroger."
"When I got home, I asked my cousin if they wanted any and showed them my pockets stuffed with coffee beans."
"They looked at me like I was stupid."
- HeyImDay20
Though most of these were low-scale crimes, it makes sense that committing the crime would still haunt some people. We certainly don't condone these, but they were all quite interesting to read.
Though stolen kisses are said to be the sweetest, maybe that's not so true of stolen candy bars and necklaces.
No matter the country, the law is a difficult beast.
Laws can change street by street.
So who knows if you're doing what's right?
But every civilian fancies themself an expert.
Guess what genius... we're wrong.
But on TV...
Redditor IfItQuackedLikeADuck wanted the legal eagles to share some truth.
So they asked:
"Lawyers, What's a law that isn't real that normal people insist exists?"
The law is tricky. So help us out.
We see you...
mean girls amy GIFGiphy"People that think it's illegal to be video taped in a public space."
RmeMSG
Goodwill...
"In the UK, people often claim that if an item is listed for sale in a shop then the shop legally has to sell it to you at that price. This is not true at all as the shop doesn't have to sell you anything at any price."
"Often as a gesture of goodwill shops will honour erroneous prices, but they are under absolutely no obligation to do so."
HereForTheTurnips_
Her Choice
"Probate attorney here. I’ve had many people ask me when the 'reading of the will' is going to take place. I explain to them that only happens in movies. But one of these days I am going to have one, and hire a mysterious blonde wearing a veil to sit in the corner quietly."
"Then I’ll tell everyone that she inherits everything. Provided, of course, that she must adopt the decedent’s cute but troublemaking six year old child no one knew about. Or she can spend the night in a haunted house. Her choice."
SpaceFaceAce
Thanks Eric
"That commercial use of a photograph means selling the photograph."
"Commercial use means that there is an implied endorsement. You can take and sell photos of Eric Clapton all day long. Put that same photo in an advertisement for a certain guitar without a release and you can be sued."
xaclewtunu
Not true...
Big Boi Smh GIF by OutkastGiphy"An arrest isn't magically invalidated if the police don't read you your rights on the spot."
"There could be a whole thread of just misconceptions people have from watching Cop TV."
Auntie_Hero
I knew Olivia Benson was lying.
$$$ Talks
Bugs Bunny Money GIF by Looney TunesGiphy"In California, it's not illegal to discuss your wages with your co-workers, despite what your boss might say."
Coolest_Breezy
100 Feet Away
"Am a lawyer. This is not a law that doesn’t exist, but a law that is misunderstood. Typically, you can’t just go get a restraining order against anybody. Most states have specific laws for who you can get restraining orders against (typically household members or former romantic interests). Usually, it’s only in domestic violence cases or for victims of crimes. You can’t just get a restraining order and comically use it to keep someone 100 feet away."
"*in the United States, at least."
hawkjc19
Damn you Sam
"'When my parents die, the government is going to seize a big chunk of the inheritance and I'll get nothing.'"
"In the US this is a very common misconception. Although state inheritance taxes vary, the US federal taxes on inheritance don't actually kick in until the estate's value exceeds US$5 million."
"So, for the vast majority of working class folks, the federal inheritance tax won't have any effect. But people will still talk to their family lawyers and ask about how much Uncle Sam is taking away when mom or dad die."
dusmeyedin
Suggestions
"It's a law that exists but widely misunderstood is the concept of Entrapment. If the police put a Bait vehicle in a high crime area, that is NOT entrapment. If the police are watching a bar known to overserve to see if there are impaired drivers at the end of the night that is NOT entrapment. Entrapment only occurs when a gov agent suggests committing a crime that you were not otherwise going to commit."
Dinothegreen
Secrets
Angry Inside Out GIF by Disney PixarGiphy"A real, but widely misunderstood law is HIPAA. People think it protects you from literally any discussion of your health issues by anyone at all. Nope. Not even close."
I need a lawyer. NOW!
Do you have any misconceptions to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Being a lawyer has got to be such a daunting challenge.
How do you keep your conscience in check?
The things you learn about humanity can be bone-chilling.
It's a special issue when you're a criminal attorney.
Sometimes you learn your client is guilty.
But you still have to do your job, even if what you know leaves you shaking in fear or disgust.
You took an oath after all.
Redditor BrunoDeFarnesewanted to hear about all the stories that still haunt lawyers. They asked:
"Reddit lawyers, what is the scariest thing a client has confessed/said to you?"
I've always wondered about this. It happens in movies. But does it happen in real life?
Unbearable
Sad Season 9 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"I once had a client’s mental state deteriorate over time. They went from relatively normal to complaining of ghosts in their home and their house being bugged in a matter of months. It was equal parts scary and very sad to watch it happen."
ghostdogtheconquerer
The Worst
"Their murders."
berklythrowaway
"Admission of guilt to your lawyer makes it harder to defend a client, at least where I practice, that takes any defenses off the table where you argue they didn't do it. So now you not only have the trauma of knowing these details, they've also made your job way harder."
Disruptorpistol
Criminal Law
"Had a client who was charged with assault with a deadly weapon against his wife. He had a few past charges that were similar. Fairly typical domestic violence situation. He claimed it was blown out of proportion, yada yada. I got a pretty good plea deal for him and advised him to take it."
"He told me he wanted to go to trial. I told him that when his wife testifies against him, he’d lose pretty fast. He looked me in the eye and told me that his wife would not be attending the trial. I knew better than to ask questions. Sure enough, his wife did not attend the trial. Case dismissed for lack of witness."
"A win for the good guys? I hope he just made up with her and she chose not to appear, but I’ve always wondered if he did something to make sure of it. He sounded pretty confident when he told me she wouldn’t be there. I got out of criminal law in a hurry after that."
LooieKablooie
Grandpa
"I work in patent law, so we don't really get 'scary' per se. Grandfather came in with several inventions... actually the entire family came which was weird. He was very proud of his inventions, and explicitly stated that they needed the money the inventions would make and the money would go to the whole family to support them. His family getting an inheritance basically rested on these inventions."
"The inventions were extremely simple concepts that had been around for probably 30+ years. I politely got all of the information. I then put together a report, and it was honestly scary. How do you write something that shatters this elderly mans (and his families) dreams?"
lordnecro
The Robot
Steve Little Lawyer GIF by The GrinderGiphy"His wife was an alien robot and so was the President, and he was going to kill them and all other robots. Straight to the psych ward for paranoid schizophrenia."
It_Could_Be_True
Details
Sad Science Fiction GIF by Paramount+Giphy"They killed someone when detailing the case to me."
Huuntergamer45
Intertwined...
“'I am a Mexican cartel member' —US Immigration Attorney."
Odd_Author_76
"In LATAM, organized crime and everyday life intertwine quite often, it is quite common to bump into people with some degree of involvement or who had dealings with them in the past, I live in an upper middle class neighborhood and all of the businesses around my house had yo get an 'ok' to operate."
Much_Committee_9355
Hidden
"My husband was the lawyer not me, but one guy had been hiding in the attic of his small apartment building and when my husband went to talk to him he was so out of it on meth and paranoid that he accused my husband of working for the county whatever that means."
Chutneyonegaishimasu
Panama papers...
"I do corporate structure and wealth management so I don’t get much action, but I’ve had clients admitting over the phone casually to every white collar crime known to man, insider trading, money laundering, tax evasion schemes I would get once a week. I’m pretty ok if what you are doing is fu**ing over either some big corporate or the government."
"But probably the scariest stuff, was during the Panama papers, while I was still an intern, I got a call from my boss off hours and to get to the office ASAP, I just went to the office had no idea what was going on and started shredding clients papers who might or might not have something to do on tax heavens."
Much_Committee_9355
To the Grave
serious joe pesci GIFGiphy"I had to surrender my law license last week b/c of an early dementia diagnosis. Although I no longer carry a bar card, the secrets disclosed by clients, over the last 30 years, will die with me."
PraylikeTomAmes
Asking for a friend...
"I was always told you never lie to your lawyer or doctor. If I killed someone would a lawyer want to know the truth to better prepare for a case or do I keep my mouth shut? If I do admit to a heinous crime can the lawyer just refuse to defend me and then testify against me. Asking for a friend."
crusttysack
calibrated...
"I feel like my meter is calibrated differently, I feel like what is scary to some people doesn't phase me and I can't even think of really scary things. Except the time I worked with some mentally ill defendants and when visiting, he pulled a pen inkwell that he had sharpened out of his ass and threatened to harm himself in front of me."
"I was behind glass and safe, but having to talk him down was one of the scariest things I've ever had to do. He probably couldn't have seriously injured himself, but the moment was very scary."
jonesie1988
RIP
"I had a client who’s employee got drunk, went home and beat his wife to death R.I.P. it was in the paper!"
Thewhitewhale22
Criminal
"Other than a few cases, I didn't mind my criminal clients. I felt bad for the majority of them. They weren't bad people, they were people who were horrible childhoods, didn't finish high school, some kind of addiction problem, etc. They literally did not have the knowledge or ability to make good decisions. And a couple of bad people thrown in there.But Family Law? No thank you."
unabashedlyabashed
Secrets
"I became a lawyer b/c of Brendan Sullivan at Williams & Connelly. I was fortunate enough to also be a law professor (evidence and the law of testamentary privilege). Sullivan once said in an interview that he wanted his epitaph to read 'here lie the secrets'. I want nothing less and if I were to tell secrets, it would rob me of my professional pride and dignity."
PraylikeTomAmes
Godspeed, Esquire...
"My former boss, a lawyer of more than 40 years, passed in 2015. I know some of the secrets with which he was burdened but I know there were much, much worse things he carried alone. When he got sick in 2013 and knew dementia would eventually come for him, he would often joke and say, 'Now, when I lose my mind, don’t think you’re going to get any secrets out of me.'"
"Although those of us around him didn’t feel so confident, he’d made up his mind. And he didn’t. He told us he was still married to his long-departed first wife. He had fabulous visits with his mother, who had passed on more than 30 years prior. He lived a lot in his college days."
"Not once, however, did he utter a single clients name. Not the most eccentric family law client nor the most dangerous criminal client. Not a single one was mentioned. I sense you to have made up your mind. I’m sorry for your diagnosis but know you’re obviously a hell of a lawyer. Godspeed, Esquire."
Shiftn4ward
The 22...
"Its a catch-22. The real answer is it depends. There are several possible ways to defend such a case. First is to make a strong case that it wasn't you. Second, is to impeach the prosecutions case, and undermine the certainty that it was you such that you get let off on reasonable doubt."
"Third, is some type of justification or mitigation defense: You did it, but it was legally justified, or you did it, but here is why you should get the lesser charge. Knowing the truth will help your lawyer formulate trial strategy, and better advise you during plea negotiation."
"However, when you admit doing it, it becomes hard/impossible to ethically present evidence exonerating you, that your attorney knows to be false. It is generally a bad idea to try to commit fraud on the court, your attorney cannot knowingly help you, but if your situation is desperate enough, it may actually be your best bet, but you can't ask your attorney about it!"
monty845
It's a good thing I'm not a lawyer. I'd be taking out AD space online with these stories.
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Lawyers Break Down The Worst Legal Advice They've Ever Seen Given Online
Objection! Much like WebMD, everyone should not use the internet for a for the legal equivalent. If you need legal representation, then put some pennies together and get some, or do the only research you should, find free legal aide. Too many people are trusting people they'll never see for life matters that are too important. Once and awhile some lawyers take a look to see what's being thrown about and most of it is problematic.
Redditor u/NoodlesTheKitty wanted to hear from employees of the court about the times they couldn't believe what they were hearing and seeing by asking.... Lawyers of Reddit - what is the worst advice you've seen on r/legal advice?
Different Place... Different Troubles....
Lawyer GIF by memecandyGiphyI'm a lawyer and the biggest mistake I see people make is assuming the law is the same everywhere. There is a reason we need to be licensed in every state to practice there. Furthermore, if it's not your specific area of expertise, a general knowledge of the law is probably not enough.
In Bad Faith
Not r/legaladvice but r/exmormon for legal advice. I remember the time someone was mentioning they were gearing up for a divorce but didn't have enough money to retain an attorney for the proceedings. Someone on the sub gave them the advice that they should get consultations with all of the top divorce attorneys in the region. The reasoning was that if the attorney has consulted with one side in a case that they are obligated to not be able to represent the other side. They wanted the spouse to also not have access to an attorney.
Comes out later that OP actually took that advice & consulted with 30 divorce attorneys. None were able to take the case so spouse has a hard time hiring one. Eventually the spouse & attorney found the thread on reddit and were able to tie the account back to OP.
Judge not only rules totally in favor of the spouse but OP was also ordered to pay part of the attorneys fees due to abuse of process, acting in bad faith, etc which made things more expensive for her.
"not a lawyer"
In a thread asking about the legality of physically assaulting people who don't wear masks in public (Big surprise, its still assault) the general consensus was "Feeling strongly enough about something means laws don't matter."
I tend to notice its common on reddit to have this weird, psychotic power fantasy going on where you can respond to minor rudeness with immediate and overwhelming violence and be applauded for it while doing so.
A lot of advice in r/legaladvice from "not a lawyer" types seems to advocate blatantly illegal and often violent behavior in reprisal to some pretty minor slights. The mod team is pretty good at taking down these types of comments, but you still see a lot of them.
Looking....
Looking Jim Carrey GIF by Golden GlobesGiphyThe only half decent advice I've ever seen come from that sub was what kind of lawyer you need to look for. It's safest to assume that everyone else is a cop or a maroon.
100% Wrong
It was regarding a noncompete or some kind of employment contract. All of the advice in the thread, including from quality contributor flared posters, was saying "looks like you're stuck, it's a contract and you agreed to it, consider it a life lesson."
With 2 minutes of research I found an appellate case directly on point from the relevant jurisdiction saying "employers can't enforce this contractual clause because it's against public policy." Meaning that everyone else giving advice in the thread was correct generally, but 100% wrong for the OP.
Lexis/westlaw searches (the way lawyers research the law) are obscenely expensive, so I don't expect anyone in r/legaladvice to be doing them out-of-pocket to help internet randos. But I found it with google. Either way, if you're posting there giving advice half-cocked, not knowing the full facts or law, I feel like you're violating your ethical obligations as an attorney.
Not Reddit
I'm a lawyer. So much of it is straight up garbage. It's pretty clearly full of folks googling away. The best answers are often downvoted lol. I followed legal advice for a few days or something and bounced as fast as possible.
Don't rely on Reddit if you need advice.
Great Ponds
I'm not a lawyer but I really enjoyed the person talking about my state's Great Ponds law. The question was asking what to do about people trespassing on OP's boat ramp at their summer cabin. According this poster, the Great Ponds law says there needs to be access, so therefore OP is out of luck. In reality, the law says that the town must provide public access to lakes or ponds over a certain size, not that you can just walk through anybody's property to get there.
Basics
viola davis side eye GIF by ABC NetworkGiphyIn my opinion, there are only three actual pieces of advice from that sub.
- Call the police
- Get a lawyer
- You're screwed. MooKids
Have a Nice Life
I'm not a lawyer, but I used to browse r/legaladvice. A year or two ago, there was a girl who was looking for options to prevent her parents from taking her back to the ancestral third-world country for a year for "school" or something. The post was chock-full of red flags; from the context it seemed pretty likely that the actual reason was far more sinister (I don't remember the specifics, but it seemed likely she would be married off, and in any case would not be returning to the USA at any point).
As I recall, she seemed reluctant to leave her friends for "a year" and didn't look forward to the trip, but she seemed oblivious that there might be something worse in store. Specifics aside, everyone was justifiably scared for her.
Nobody had any particularly useful legal advice, because it turns out there's not really anything illegal about leaving the country with your minor/dependent child with a good cover story, and her few preemptive legal options would have required more money and freedom than she had.
People did, however, have a lot of practical advice. Things like, "under no circumstances should you get on the plane," "talk to a teacher ASAP," "if you can't avoid going to the airport, pocket something that'll earn you a private interview with security and tell them you're being trafficked," etc. Again, I don't remember all the specifics, and maybe not all the advice was useful. But some of it was stuff the girl probably needed to read.
The comments section got ripped apart by the mods. It was just a graveyard of deleted posts followed by "This comment has been removed because it does not contain any legal advice." And the post itself was removed later with a short note to the effect that "this is not something we can help you with, have a nice life."
I get it, a sub has rules to keep the conversation focused, and you don't want to get in the habit of making exceptions, or the rules no longer mean anything. But those rules are enforced by people, not robots, and sometimes a rule-breaking comment could literally save a life. Have a little empathy.
I unsubscribed that day. I hope the girl is okay.
You Never Know
Law Lawyer GIF by GIPHY Studios OriginalsGiphyFor people unaware there are no qualifications to be a contributor on r/LegalAdvice. So you could be getting responses from actual qualified lawyers or it could be a 15 yr old repeating garbage they heard on the internet.
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