A user of the social media site Reddit recently started a wide-ranging conversation with the question: “In the United States, what should never be done?”
The thread received over 12,000 comments, including helpful tips for US visitors, and even more users called it an interesting conversation.
Here are some answers that even people living in America might find interesting – along with background and official sources that original users usually didn’t provide.
1. Fly a drone in Washington, DC
In general, flying a drone in controlled airspace – such as anywhere near an airport – requires official approval through a process called Low Altitude Clearance and Notification Capability (LAANC). This process is in place for more than 700 US airports, but Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is not one of them.
“The airspace around Washington, DC, is more restricted than in any other part of the country,” and has been since the September 11 attacks, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Without special permission, you are not allowed to fly within 15 miles of the airport – a radius that covers the entire nation’s capital.
Violators could face “arrest, a $300 fine and/or 90 days in jail and may also face additional federal civil and criminal penalties,” according to the United States Capitol Police.
2. Open someone else’s mail
Opening mail that belongs to someone else could be considered one of a few different federal crimes, including:
- General mail obstruction“Anyone who, knowingly and voluntarily, obstructs or delays the passage of mail, or of any carrier or means of transport carrying mail, shall be punished by a fine under this title or by imprisonment for a maximum of six months, or both.
- Obstruction of correspondence“Anyone who takes a letter, postcard or parcel out of any post office or authorized mail depot, or from any postman or postman, or who has been in a post office or authorized depot, or under the custody of any letter or postman, before it has been delivered to the person for whom it was intended, for the purpose of interfering with correspondence, or interfering with the business or secrets of another, or opens, secretes, diverts or destroys the same, shall be liable to a fine under this Title or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.
- Theft or receipt of stolen mail in general: “Anyone who steals, takes or subtracts, or by fraud or deceit obtains, or attempts to obtain, from or from any mail, post office or station thereof, post box, mail receptacle, or any courier itinerary or other authorization depositary of mail, or of a letter or postman, any letter, postcard, parcel, bag or mail, or extracts or extracts from any such letter […] or Anyone who unlawfully purchases, receives, or conceals, or has in his possession […] any article or thing contained therein which has been so stolen […] Shall be punished by a fine under this title or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both. »
Fortunately, accidentally opening someone’s mail doesn’t count, according to the Chicago-based law firms of Hal M. Garfinkel.
3. Leave your car at a roadside check
It may not be illegal to get out of your vehicle when you get pulled over, but the wisest thing to do is to remain seated and wait for instructions from the police, which may or may not include getting out. the car.
The American Civil Liberties Union recommends doing the following when an officer signals you to pull over:
- Stop the car quickly but safely.
- Turn off the car, turn on the dome light, partially roll down your window and put your hands on the steering wheel or dashboard.
- When asked, present your driver’s license, insurance information and vehicle registration.
- Keep your hands visible and avoid sudden movements.
These steps should help reassure the police that you are not a threat or likely to flee, which should make the experience safer and smoother.
4. Try to bribe the police
You may have heard – or seen on TV – stories of people getting out of a sticky situation with the police. But since the general purpose of a bribe is to pretend that something didn’t happen, it’s hard to gauge how often they actually happen.
Anyway, this was the most popular answer in the Reddit thread:
“Don’t try to bribe the cops when you get arrested. I asked some Argentinian friends to pull out their wallets immediately and start pooling their money when they got arrested once. Fortunately, someone in the car noticed it and told them to put it away immediately.
Other users claimed at least second-hand knowledge that it worked in Mexico, India, and even the US territory of Guam.
One group that has attempted to measure corruption is the non-profit organization Transparency International, which claims to conduct “the world’s largest survey asking citizens about their direct personal experience of corruption in their daily lives, their perceptions of the challenges corruption in their own country and their willingness to act against corruption.
Its most recent survey, from 2017, found that one in four people worldwide had paid a bribe in the previous year while interacting with a public service. The countries where bribes were most often reported were Yemen, India, Liberia, Mexico and Vietnam. However, “questions on corruption were not asked in Belgium, France, Greenland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States due to funding constraints” .
Fortunately, no funding is required to discover that bribery is illegal in all US jurisdictions. “Corruption is a crime in all states and under federal law,” according to Columbia Law School, which studies anti-corruption laws in the United States.
5. Joke about shooting someone
One user offered the oddly specific but popular response: “Under no circumstances should you say, ‘I’m going to shoot the President of the United States.’ Especially not on TV.
The main response to this comment was a “former news cameraman” who agreed that it’s a bad idea to say you’re going to shoot anyone, even when you mean “shoot video footage of” them.
Federal law defines “threats against the president and successors to the presidency,” when made in writing, as a specific crime punishable by a fine or up to five years in prison.
In general, “interstate communications” that threatens to kidnap or harm anyone can be punished by up to 20 years in prison under federal law, not to mention state laws.
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