From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

A few decades ago, a Boulder, Colorado judge pulled this stunt on one of
his neighbors in a ritzy neighborhood bordering greenbelt land. I'm
surprised he wasn't murdered by the neighbors he stole the land from.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jonathan-turley-how-gov-shapiro-became-squatter-got-sued-his-neighbors

Poet Robert Frost once said that "good fences make good neighbors." He apparently never met Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is being sued
by his neighbors for effectively squatting on their land and then
seizing it to install a fence along his $830,500 private residence in
suburban Philadelphia. The litigation is likely to put Shapiro in a much different light for many who think of him as a 2028 contender.

The irony of the case is crushing. Shapiro opposed Trump's plan to build
a wall along the southern border, declaring that he would sue before a
dime of Pennsylvania money went to pay for it. He apparently adopted a
similar approach to his neighbors in Pennsylvania. The difference is
that he built the wall, but without giving his neighbors a dime.

Shapiro has long wanted a 2,900-square-foot parcel of land located
between the two homes in Abington, Montgomery County. The problem is
that his neighbors like their land and want to keep it. They turned down multiple offers from Shapiro.

That is when the governor decided to build it anyway.

Jeremy and Simone Mock allege that Shapiro effectively became a squatter
by using the state police to bar them from their own property and then building an eight-foot security fence.

After the Mocks sued, Shapiro countersued, claiming that the land was
now his through "adverse possession." He basically claimed that they
abandoned the land despite their repeatedly trying to gain entry and repeatedly turning down his offers to buy it.

Welcome to the world of adverse possession. It is a doctrine dating back
to 2000 B.C., and the Code of Hammurabi, allowing people to acquire
title to land abandoned by owners over a long period of time. A really
long time.

From the Romans to the British to the earliest days of the American
Republic, adverse possession has been recognized as a valid means of
acquiring title. In the United States. It was particularly valuable
after people acquired or claimed vast tracts of land out West, only to
leave them undeveloped and unoccupied. As settlers moved West, they
often cultivated the land, built structures, and lived openly for years
before the original owners reclaimed it. Adverse possession was an
efficient rule that allowed land to be put to productive use.

Under Pennsylvania law, you must prove actual, continuous, exclusive,
visible, notorious, distinct and hostile possession of the land for 21
years. Shapiro clearly has the hostile part down, but the Mocks are
claiming that he effectively used state police to bar them from their
land and then claimed that they abandoned it.

Each side is portraying the other as dishonest and opportunistic.

In their complaint, the Mocks allege that the Shapiros made "previous acknowledgments that the Mock Property was owned by no one other than
the Mocks." They document that the Shapiros did not want to pay the
asking price, so the Mocks offered to lease the land to them. The
Shapiros allegedly agreed but then backed out.

The Mocks declare, "what followed was an outrageous abuse of power by
the sitting Governor of Pennsylvania and its former Attorney General."
Shapiro declared the property was his.

The Mocks objected that they had been paying taxes to the state on the disputed property for nine years.

The Shapiros claim that from 2003 to 2025, they mowed the lawn, cleared leaves, and removed other debris from the land as if it were their own. Accordingly, they claim that the 21-year period has passed and with it
the title to the land. They further allege that, after buying the
property in April 2017, the Mocks did not claim the land or challenge
the location of an existing fence. However, they did so in October 2025.

Shapiro maintains that the Mocks never even knew the property was theirs
until he informed them of the results of a recent survey.

The fascinating element is the use of state troopers to keep the Mocks
off their land. The complaint even shows a picture of two troopers,
stating, "these members of the State Police are on the Mock Property.
Behind the officers are the arborvitae that the Shapiros planted on the
Mock Property without permission and over the MocksrCO express objections."

With the required 21 years only barely passed, any period in which the
Mocks contested the possession could unravel the adverse possession
claim. In the meantime, few people are likely to be sympathetic with the Shapiros taking property from a neighbor. Adverse possession rarely sits
well with people, but it is more palatable when the owner has been
absent and dilatory.

Here, the owners are very much present and vocal.

The optics are also worsened by the fact that the state has been
struggling to address a squatting crisis where people occupy other
people's homes and then refuse to leave during years of litigation.
Shapiro is accused of being a squatter with a state trooper contingent
to back him up. It is not clear what would be worse for Shapiro to lose
or to win in taking his neighborrCOs property without compensation.

The dispute has already made its way into the political arena, where
Shapiro is running for reelection. One of his opponents, Stacy Garrity,
posted a ValentinerCOs Day message on social media with ShapirorCOs face
that said: "I love you more than I love my neighborrCOs yard."

The fact is that there are credible arguments on both sides of this
dispute. For Shapiro, the question is whether he can afford to win.
--
When Democrat "lawmakers" outlaw guns, aside from LEO's and the Armed
Forces, only international criminal gangs and illegal aliens in the U.S.
will have guns.

https://www.globalgulag.us

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