Trespassing Onto Federal Property Is Still A Crime Regardless Of Whether You’re On A Reality TV Show

Are you all as sick of reality televisions shows as I am?  First off, they’re anything but reality since they’re almost all entirely staged and/or scripted by this point.  Take the entire MTV line-up for example, if you can’t tell that’s fake then I have some magic beans to sell you after you’re don’t treasure hunting.  Second, they take money away from writers and other creative professionals who make actual television programming, meaning well-thought out scripted shows with interesting dialogue.

I could go on and on, but I’ll save you from my continued ranting by jumping to the worst thing part about all this reality TV.  The absolute worst thing about reality television is that it created reality TV stars, if you can actually call them that.  They’re essentially people who are famous for just being famous.  But the problem extends to more than just the sheer annoyance of it all.  No, reality TV and their stars have begun to change our once civil society into a civilization full of arrogant horrible people who believe the only way to be praised and respected is by acting like a total jackass.

I’m glad Michaele and Tareq Salahi could be facing criminal charges in the very near future.  If you haven’t heard already these two nincompoops crashed, actually CRASHED, a White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  President Barack Obama and the vice president were among the attendees, and these two jerks strolled in uninvited.  National security breach, much?  The Salahis were both being consider for “The Real Housewives of D.C.,” an upcoming reality TV show being produced for the Bravo television network.  So far Bravo has tried to stay out of it, claiming that they were only recording the couple around Washington D.C., but didn’t know that they were planning to crash the state dinner.

Regardless of how true that statement actually is, the one fact that does remain is that all the parties involved, Bravo and the Salahis, probably love all the attention they’re getting from this stupid act.

And that’s the biggest problem with reality TV, it encourages people to be stupid by rewarding them for their stupidity with a little bit of money and some fame, which is then thoroughly milked by the new reality TV star for more money and fame.  They love all press, even bad press – which I’m giving them and yes, I see the irony.  It’s a vicious cycle that hopefully will end soon.

Now in case you’re wondering, no, I haven’t forgotten that this is a legal website and that it’s not my personal soapbox (it is a little, but within reason).  The reason I bring up the Salahis is that a recent post from The Volokh Conspiracy cites some interesting and damning federal statutes that can actually put the attention-starved couple behind bars.

I know I seem biased, but as far as I can tell the writer makes some pretty valid arguments for showing a prima facie case against the Salahis for violating the federal statute.  The statute seems pretty straight-forward.  But like all of you out there know, any good lawyer can twist even the straightest of sentences.  And judging by Tareq Salahi’s occupation, co-founder of Land Rover America’s Polo Cup and heir to a Virginia winery, he probably has some money to spare for a good attorney.

Remember folks, trespass is a crime (and a pretty common one at that judging by the constant stream of LegalMatch cases received regarding the matter) and trespassing on federal property is a felony offense punishable by upwards of five to six years in the old pokey and/or fines.

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