Riding the Liability Train at Smugglers Run in Galaxy’s Edge

September 10, 2019

Smugglers Run in Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland is a dream come true for any fan of Star Wars. It is a wicket good time, regardless if the first time you saw the Millennium Falcon was at a drive-in theater, VHS tape, DVD, Blu Ray, or Streaming. We live in an age of wonder where entering Galaxy’s Edge is like walking into a Star Wars movie.

It is also a great lesson in to break all sorts of laws.

The ride’s story is as follows: Hondo Ohnaka (from Clone Wars and Rebels) has formed Ohnaka Transport Solutions, which is based the Black Spire on Batuu, which is operating the Millennium Falcon on loan from Chewbacca. The “job” from Ohnaka Transport Solutions is to intercept a First Order train shipment of Coaxium on Corellia. Let’s jump to lightspeed over the legal issues with such an endeavor.

Are We Space Pirates or Privateers?

Traveling through space to “appropriate” hyper-fuel from the First Order sounds a lot like piracy. The law defines piracy as, “Any illegal acts of violence, detention or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed.” 1958 U.S.T. LEXIS 31, Article 15, section 1 (The Convention of the High Seas).

The Millennium Falcon is a private aircraft that was used to shoot down First Order Tie Fighters in order to shoot at a train for the goal of capturing its cargo. That meets the textbook definition of piracy. However, such a reading of the law ignores the fact the First Order was a political movement that destroyed the Republic with Starkiller Base. That is not the basis for forming a government, to say nothing about the consent of the governed. The First Order at its core is a terrorist group that was successful in committing genocide of Hosnian Prime. They are nothing but war criminals that murder civilians by the billions.

From a certain point of view, Ohnaka Transport Solutions could be viewed as employing privateers with the Millennium Falcon. The early definition of a “privateer” is a vessel owned by one or by a society of private individuals, armed and equipped at his or their expense, for the purpose of carrying on a maritime war, by the authority of one of the belligerent parties. Bouvier, 1853, PRIVATEER, war. It is worth noting that privateers are now banned under the Hague Convention VII of 1907, the Convention Relating to the Conversion of Merchant Ships into War.

In our case, Chewbacca is a member of the Resistance, the presumptive legal owner of the Falcon (there is a chance it could belong to Leia, but certainly not Kylo Ren after killing Han Solo, because murdering a parent would cut off his inheritance). Chewbacca loaned the Falcon with the express purpose of a military operation against the First Order. The First Order’s destruction of the capital of the New Republic was the first shot in a war over freedom verse tyranny. This makes anything for the First Order’s war effort a legitimate military target. As such, the Falcon being sent on a mission to harm the war effort of the First Order would make Ohnaka Transport Solutions engaged in privateering.

There are some imperfections to the argument; given there is no longer a government for the New Republic. However, given every nation does have a right to self-defense, no one has to bow down to the First Order.

Train Wrecking

The only way to steal the Coaxium on the train carrying the fuel was to shoot the train, causing one of the cars to derail. This is the black letter law definition of “train wrecking.” California Penal Code § 218 defines the law as follows:

Every person who unlawfully throws out a switch, removes a rail, or places any obstruction on any railroad with the intention of derailing any passenger, freight or other train, car or engine, or who unlawfully places any dynamite or other explosive material or any other obstruction upon or near the track of any railroad with the intention of blowing up or derailing any such train, car or engine, or who unlawfully sets fire to any railroad bridge or trestle, over which any such train, car or engine must pass with the intention of wrecking such train, car or engine, is guilty of a felony, and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life without possibility of parole.

Flying the Falcon behind the train, shooting at train cars, and harpooning the Coaxium, is the use of explosives to blow up the train, causing a derailment. Flight crews could be charged and convicted of train wrecking, if this was an ordinary crime not committed as a war time measure against the First Order.

Smuggling

Since the name of the ride is Smugglers Run, it is illegal to smuggle goods into or out of the United States. See, 18 U.S.C.S. §§ 554 and 545. The relevant issue for the independent contractors employed by Ohnaka Transport Solutions, is the Falcon is being used to transport hyper-fuel. Ironically there is not much in trying to conceal the fuel in the heist, because it is an armed attack on a First Order train. That aside, the ride Smugglers Run does live up to the legal definition of smuggling.

Thoughts on Smugglers Run

Smugglers Run sets a new gold standard for amusement park rides. The line experience takes attendees through passageways that look like the halls of Hoth or Yavin IV. The attention to detail is mindblowing. Highly recommend visiting Galaxy’s Edge, preferably with friends and family.

Which SHIELD is the Real SHIELD?

Josh Gilliland

April 8, 2015

Answer: Neither.

The reason neither SHIELD is legal is simple: Neither Director Coulson nor Commander Gonzales are operating under authority of the United States Government. No one is working with the Attorney General for law enforcement operations in the United States or the Secretary of Defense for the USS Iliad, possibly the last helicarrier at sea. Certainly no one is following the President’s orders. In short, Commander Robert Gonzales’ SHIELD operates like a military junta outside of the US chain of command.

The Day SHIELD Fell

The US military, under the command of Air Force General Talbot led an assault on the SHIELD Hub after the events of Captain America The Winter Soldier. As seen in the last episodes of season one of Agents of SHIELD, SHIELD was ordered to surrender. Multiple non-fatal confrontations have taken place between Coulson’s SHIELD Agents and the Talbot’s troops. A détente has been reached between Coulson’s SHIELD and Talbot, giving Coulson the air of legitimacy as quasi-government contractors conducting military activities.

The same cannot be said of Robert Gonzales. It is tempting to compare the Iliad to the Battlestar Galactica, but that comparison would be in error. Admiral Adama had President Laura Roslin and ultimately a new Quorum of Twelve. The stands in total contrast to the surviving SHIELD Agents onboard the Iliad, who apparently are not in communication with the United States Government. The Iliad seems to have more in common with the CSS Shenandoah, the last Confederate warship that unknowingly continued raiding Union shipping for months, unaware the Civil War was over. All of those Confederate sailors should have been hung for piracy. [Last Flag Down by John Baldwin and Ron Powers is a great telling of the CSS Shenandoah’s story].

Commander Gonzales and his SHIELD Agents recaptured the Iliad after HYDRA came out of the shadows and into the light. However, the fact Gonzales told Agent May that he had been “out voted” is evidence that Gonzales is not taking orders from the President, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, or anyone in the military chain of command. This means a nuclear powered flying aircraft carrier with WMD is cruising the Seven Seas on their own orders.

This would not be acceptable after the events of Captain America The Winter Soldier. If a helicarrier were “lost” and not responding to orders, the Navy would have orders to sink the Iliad. There is too much risk in having a rogue flying ship that can level cities at sea that is outside of the military chain of command.

The “Real” SHIELD Would Follow the Constitution

The fact Gonzales’ SHIELD Agents captured Coulson’s SHIELD base without any other Federal law enforcement agencies, that no one was arrested was given Miranda Rights, and the total subversion of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, is further evidence that Gonzales’ SHIELD is not the “real SHIELD.”

There is another issue with the SHIELD Junta onboard the Iliad: they are violating the Posse Commitatus Act, 18 USCS § 1385. The Army and Air Force is expressly prohibited from conducting law enforcement. The Navy and Marine Corps are bound by the Posse Comitatus Act, pursuant to Department of Defense regulations promulgated under 10 USCS § 375, DOD Directive 5525.5(c), SECNAVINST 5820.7B. However, the Navy can provide passive participation to the Coast Guard in conducting drug boardings, arrests, interrogations and ensuing investigations. United States v Mendoza-Cecelia (1992, CA11 Fla) 963 F2d 1467, cert den (1992) 506 US 964.

SHIELD is a strange comic book agency where law enforcement is merged with espionage and military operations. These functions are separate in the real world. Commander Gonzales could argue his assault on Coulson’s SHIELD was a military operation on US soil, however this argument would fail. Claiming law enforcement activities are military operations to get around the Posse Commitatus Act would not fly, because that violates the entire purpose of prohibiting the military from conducting law enforcement.

There is no doubt that the attack and capture of Coulson’s SHIELD was done without warrants, reading Miranda Rights to those arrested, and ignored the Writ of Habeas Corpus. All of these events demonstrate the “real SHIELD” is not operating legally. Gonzales’ SHIELD agents are mutineers at best for not following orders after SHIELD fell and pirates at worse for illegally abducting Hunter and May to the Iliad.

[Noted: Corrected on April 15]

Could the Goonies Really Keep One-Eyed Willy’s Treasure?

Jessica_alegalgeek

October 10, 2012

The Goonies are awesome. The movie, the cast, the plot – it’s all great. Of course, with a movie that great, there’s always the risk of a remake, which should not be allowed. [Side debate: Has there ever been a good remake of a classic movie? The True Grit remake was incredible but that’s because it was so different from the first one and it was done by the Coen brothers. They’re an exception to all the rules.]

The kids are great (check out what they look like now). I’ve always loved Martha Plimpton and Corey Feldman was a ton of fun as Mouth. Chunk’s Truffle Shuffle, while not PC, was an instant classic. (Ironically, given that this is a blog about geeky lawyers, Chunk himself is now a transactional and entertainment lawyer in Beverly Hills.) And, of course, in what other movie could they turn a character like Sloth from one so completely scary when first seen into one so lovable by the end?

The kids are searching for the treasure to save their homes. The local country club is foreclosing on all of them to tear them down in order to build a golf club. (Country clubs and cemeteries are the biggest waste of prime real estate.)

But could the kids use the treasure they hid in Mikey’s marble bag to prevent the foreclosures? In some states, such as Florida, the answer would be no because treasure troves abandoned on state-owned lands are the property of the state. See Fla.Stat. § 267.061(1)(b). Oregon, however, doesn’t have a similar rule (the movie was based in Astoria, Oregon).

In 1904, in a classic opinion, the Oregon Supreme Court defined what could be considered a treasure trove and explained the rights of finders of treasure troves. As the court explained, a treasure trove is “money, or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion.” Ferguson v. Ray, 44 Or. 557, 561-569 (Or. 1904). Such a treasure, if found hidden in the earth or other private place, belongs to the king; but if found in the sea or upon the earth, it belongs to the finder. Id. The court then went on to analyze a series of old cases regarding what valuables are considered treasure trove (cups, a chalice, pyxes, and a paten, all silver) and what is not (Roman coins, because they were not made of gold or silver). Id.

In another Oregon case, a court had before it money that had been found by a group of boys, ages 7 to 11. Hill v. Schrunk, 207 Or. 71, 72-73, 292 P.2d 141, 142 (Or.1956). The money, which the boys had found when poking the bottom of a pond with sticks (my 8-year-old son does the same thing) found the money, which had been wrapped in oiled paper, which was folded and placed in a waxed paper sealed fruit jar, the fruit jar being placed in a small wooden cask which was again sealed at its joining with tape, and this cask secured in turn in a section of rubber innertube, the ends of which had been secured against the entry of water, the innertube being rigged with wire or ropes to secure it to the bottom of the pool. Given that some of the money was only a year old, and treasure troves carry with them “the thought of antiquity,” the court classified the money as mislaid property and therefore ruled that the boys were not entitled to keep it.

While the jewels in Mikey’s bag aren’t gold or silver, they are clearly a pirate’s booty and it would be reasonable to expect a court to find that, under all of the circumstances, the jewels fit within the definition of a treasure trove that the finder is entitled to keep. Whether they were valuable enough to save the Goonies’ homes is a question I’ll leave to the appraisers.

Oregon does have an administrative rule, however, that makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly and intentionally excavate, injure, destroy or alter an archaeological site or object on public or private lands without first obtaining an archaeological permit. See Oregon Administrative Rule 736-051-0090. While the Goonies could be charged with violating this rule, given their intentional hunt to find Willy’s treasure, it’s unlikely that Oregon would attempt to prosecute a bunch of poor kids who were trying to save their families’ homes.

And, as proof that the Goonies stands the test of time, I’ll leave you with a video from The Whiskey Rebellion: their ode to the Goonies.