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Comparative Constitutional Law Keyed to Sutton, 5th Ed.
Cabot v. Thomas
Citation:
514 A.2d 1034 (Vt. 1986)Facts
Plaintiffs and their predecessors have owned approximately 360 acres of marshland near West Swanton, Vermont since 1933, bordered on the west by Charcoal Creek, an inlet from Lake Champlain. The creek has a definite low water line at 93.055 feet above mean sea level, established by court determination in 1949. Since that time, plaintiffs have posted signs at this boundary line stating “No Hunting, Shooting, or Trapping.” On October 3, 1979, when the water level was at 95.36 feet above sea level, defendants entered Jake Nokes Slough from Lake Champlain via Charcoal Creek in a sixteen-foot flat bottom boat. They were aware of the posted signs and had passed beyond them. Defendants stopped their boat in a weed bed two hundred yards inland from the signs, where the water was approximately five to six inches deep and the boat rested in mud. A police officer cited them for criminal trespass and poaching, leading plaintiffs to seek a permanent injunction.
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