Broken linky? Goes to ABC news...

By the defination , your front yard and driveway would also be included as a public place.

And so's your back 40... any member of the public could walk through it, if they wanted to poach--err, hunt in a public place.

Better set up a twelve-foot tall fence. Front doors don't have to accessible, do they?

Next step: you standing inside your front door with the door open is public place, too.

A little historical view of this ruling. It was a foregone conclusion, and done to protect the minions of government from having to face hundreds of civil kidnapping cases.

A narrow ruling was obtained back in the 70's that permitted the police to kidnap you from your premises in cases of public intoxication if you appeared on your front porch. Said kidnap victims are then clapped in irons and hauled off to Detox.

Same with the doctrine involving serving a copy of a summons...can't break in to do it, but if they can get you to open the door, you're fair game and you're served.

Were the judge to have rolled that back, all those past cases might have had to be repoened.

I think this fails the smell test on what is reasonable for a person to know. Almost everyone I know would believe that if you are firmly on your property, you may do whatever creates no physical offense to your neighbor.

Now, does this mean that if you post your property with no tresspass signs on a fence clearly meant to be a barrier to entry, that those areas inside the fence would not be a "public place"?

I think the mailman idea is a legal red herring, because by law, mailmen are given rights of trespass to deliver mail.

if this is true the public can just walk onto your property and do what they want because it is open.