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« Filibuster compromise | Main | Re Liberalism (Part 3) » May 25, 2005Blood FeudThe Washington Post carries a fascinating story about John Ames and Perry Brooks, two farmers in Virginia. Ames was once a lawyer and decided he wanted to start farming, so he moved to rural Caroline County to build a top-notch herd of Angus cattle. Being the sly lawyer that he is, Ames took advantage of a little-known 1887 law that says if you build a fence, you can charge the adjoining land owner half the costs of putting it up. As you can imagine, most of the elderly and retired neighbors were shocked to receive a massive bill which was half the cost of the most expensive fence that Ames could find. Although all the neighbors protested the move, it was Perry Brooks who absolutely refused to pay up and Ames sued for Brooks' $45,000 share. The case reached all the way to the Virginia Supreme Court, which surprisingly ruled the law was constitutional. As it happens Brooks also raised cattle and as proof that irony knows no ends, one of Brooks' bulls broke through the expensive fence and tainted the lawyer's high-class herd of cattle. That's when Ames decided to take action by shooting someone, but it wasn't the bull. A fine example of reality besting fiction. Posted by Joshua Claybourn at May 25, 2005 09:37 AM CommentsPosted by: Chuck at May 25, 2005 02:51 PM | permalink Regarding the fence law, at first I was shocked that could be constitutional, but now I can at least see how it could be considered fair. In many cases, a fence could be mutually beneficial, so why let a deadbeat property-owner benefit without paying anything? (I face a similar situation personally. I own a townhouse, and it was designed so that my neighbor and I share the same front porch and walkway. There is no neighborhood association which would assess dues and pay for construction, so it's up to my neighbor and I to work that out if it should become necessary.) But it would seem fair to limit the amount the fence-builder can charge his neighbors to half the cost of a *normal* fence Very intersting case, for sure. Posted by: Eric Seymour at May 25, 2005 03:19 PM | permalink Posted by: Paul at May 25, 2005 03:38 PM | permalink Posted by: Anonymous at May 25, 2005 06:43 PM | permalink Posted by: Foltz at May 25, 2005 09:35 PM | permalink As someone who grew up in Caroline County, Ames is the one who should be dead. The fence served no one but him. It was 3x the cost of a normal fence. Brooks was a poor retiree. How the hell could you be expected to pay $45k? And, the fact that it took until this year for the Virginia legislature to address this issue makes them partly responsible. I hope they can live with themselves. Posted by: Anonymous at August 9, 2005 03:33 PM | permalink Post a comment |
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