Here are some related questions that inform the answer to this one
-
Can a vampire cross a country’s border without approval from that country’s government? This relates to how a vampire’s inability to cross thresholds relates to governments and concepts of control, occupation, and ownership as they relate to this rule. My gut instinct says yes, a border doesn’t count as a boundary in this case because a vampire can only not enter your house but can go on your yard. Disregarding that, I would lean towards no a vampire would need permission, especially at a defined boundary like a border crossing checkpoint. I don’t think it would necessarily have to be from the government, though, based on concepts I will explore later
-
Can a vampire enter your home if you’re a tenant and give them permission? I say yes, because during the time period when vampire myths developed barely anyone actually owned their own homes or the land they lived on, and said myths don’t state that the vampire must receive permission from the local lord to enter the homes of his serfs. This establishes that residence is sufficient and ownership isn’t required.
-
If you are at a friend’s house for a party and a vampire shows up and you say “come on in!” Does that count as an invitation? I would say yes, but there is some argument to be had here. The answer to this question determines if residency is not only sufficient, but required. If you say yes, then, it seems that merely occupying a space is what gives one authority to invite a vampire in, not residence or ownership. If you say no, then it seems that residence or control over a space is more important.
-
If you give a worker a garage door code and tell him he can use that while you’re not home and he turns out to be a vampire, can he enter your home? I would say yes, because you explicitly gave him permission. If you say no, then it seems that the relationship of the threshold is what’s important. Someone on one side has to be inviting the vampire to cross, and the invitation can’t be given if both parties are on the same side. I say yes, because I feel that the criteria are as follows - A person must have control over a space in some sense (but not necessarily legal authority over it) and they must explicitly give permission to the vampire to enter. The explicit permission requirement is because a vampire theoretically wouldn’t be able to break into your house by smashing a window.
Now as all of this pertains to a warrant - I think that yes, a vampire with a warrant would be able to enter a home with a warrant because the issuing authority has the ability to control access to your home via warrants and you have implicitly delegated that authority to them via the social contract, and the warrant is explicit permission to enter your home.
-
Could juvenile vampires break into an unowned or abandoned home? What if they were actually hired by the local government to demo an abandoned home? Is that enough consent?
No, they need consent. The state is a third party and cannot consent on your behalf
Damn, you know your vampire law!
spoiler
Finally, a good pun. Great work!
Do you believe they’re vampire?
Never met one and I think it would be cool.
I wonder if consent ends with the sale of the house? And if so, could you banish an already-invited vampire by selling the house to someone else for like $1 and then immediately buying it back off them?
Also if a vampire owns an apartment building, can they go into tenant’s suites without permission? Would buzzing a vampire in at the lobby allow them to go where they want, or only a specific suite?
Except you give consent in advance for warrants by living in the state and thus agree to it’s laws, whether you like it or not.
The warrant gives them the legal right to enter the house, but being vampires, they cannot enter without being invited. However, should you decide not to invite them, you can be found in contempt and arrested, which then creates the problem that the vampire police officer can’t enter to arrest you without being invited…
Could vampires be turned down for the position because they physically are not able to carry out the job? Or would that be supernatural discrimination?
The Ankh-Morpork League of Temperance* has been petitioning the Patrician for months trying to get a vampire onto the City Watch. The Campaign for Equal Heights and the Fresh Start Club have already gotten dwarves and zombies onto the force, so it’s only a matter of time.
* They’ve sworn off the red sticky stuff, oh deary me, yes.
Lol, totally forgot about the night watch when I made that comment 😆 good ole TP, discworld’s the best
There is a vampire photographer in Ankh-morpork who keep blasting himself to dust every time he make a photo, so the bar is set pretty low i think.
In the US at least, employment discrimination is fine if it’s due to a bona fide requirement of the job. Ie, the person is fundamentally incapable of performing a job even with reasonable accomodation.
An example of reasonable accomodation is a modified computer/desk setup for someone in a wheel chair. They need a bit more room for maneuvering about their workspace. But someone who is paraplegic is perfectly capable of working most office jobs.
Someone in a wheelchair however is fundamentally incapable of performing certain manual labor jobs, and it is perfectly legal to not hire them for those positions. Quadriplegic people can’t work manual construction labor. You’re not pouring concrete when you’re paralyzed from the neck down, and no reasonable accomodation is going to make that possible.
So for vampires, it really depends on what their work-relevant disabilities are, and how difficult it is to accommodate them. Need to be invited in? A reasonable accomodation for a police department would be to simply not have their vampire officers serve search warrants. They can still respond to emergency calls, as a call for help could give implied permission to enter a home. Vampire officers can still patrol, perform traffic duties, perform detective work, etc. But they simply can’t participate in search warrants execution.
The daylight limitations may be more limiting. Sure a vampire could wear a hood and gloves, and that’s little different from someone wearing a hijab. But it’s still dangerous from a workplace safety concern. All it takes is a perp pulling on your hood, and you start boiling? Huge liability risk for the department. So maybe vampire officers will need to be limited to indoor desk work or the night shift. I think hiring them only for the night shift would be a reasonable accommodation.
Overall, I think vampires could easily be employed as police officers. Some reasonable accommodations are required, but a department outright prohibiting the hiring of vampires likely violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Thank you for taking a stand in favor of all the vampires out there who are being unfairly denied careers in law enforcement
Rubbish! No-one is discriminating against vampires.
Are there any vampire rules against throwing a tear gas grenade through your window?
No, but it lacks style, so we prefer not to.
Edit; Apparently Lazlo did it once, but he says it was consentual.
wait if vampires need to be invited in by the owner, do they have to call your landlord?
I say no because vampire myths developed in a time and place where only a tiny minority of people were even allowed to own property and almost everyone lived on land they didn’t own, and in those stories the vampires are invited by the resident, not the owner.
Wait what if it’s a state owned public housing place? Is it the government or the people who have to let them in?
Landlords are kind of vampire too, so you can expect cooperation.
Best to live in a housing co-op. That way the building is collectively owned so they would need permission from everyone.
That’s actually a plot point in at least one of the vampire shows. A vampire buys someones home from the bank, and they’re free to enter despite the resident/occupants refusal.
True Blood, season 2 IIRC?
True Blood was great imo (first 3 seasons). Not really into fantasy but this was quite dark at times.
But even landlords need to at least give notice before they can legally enter.
Not sure vampiric “law” cares about renters rights. And if it does, is it based on current laws in the country they are in, or the country of origin? And is it the origin of vampires themselves or just the vampire turned. And is it based on the time they were turned or modern laws?
Either way, in one instance I they bought it from the bank after missed mortage payments. So they weren’t legally living there anyway but counted as last/current resident for the vampire since the bank isn’t a person.
But what if they don’t fully own the shell company that owns the houses, do they need a majority stake?
Do they need consent from the owner of the house or home? If it’s a rental, the landlord owns the house but it’s the tenant’s home.
Though it’s always kinda messy turning a human-made rule or idea into a physical law.
Depends on which option would serve better to advance the plot
I would guess they would have non vampires to execute the warrant and once they are inside, they could then invite the vampire in.
Wait, can anyone invite them in? Not just the people living there?
In all the examples listed in the response, the inviter must explicitly be the owner of the house:
https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/65991/why-do-vampires-have-to-be-invited-in
Although that just leaves us with the question about who is considered the owner. I’m a renter, so would that be me, or my landlord?
Fun fact: In German, this boils down to which translation of “owner” is used. I’m the “Besitzer” of my apartment (I possess it), but not the “Eigentümer” (I cannot sell it).
I think “occupant” or “resident” are both better choices over “owner” for how this conceptually works.
If a family live in the house, then a child of the family could certainly invite a vampire in, despite the child not being the “owner”.
What about the child’s friend who is visiting for a sleepover?
No, they must live there.
I’d argue no, because they are not a resident. They are only a visitor.
Resident (noun) 1. a person who lives somewhere permanently or on a long-term basis
Occupant in a housing sense is pretty synonymous with Resident legally, but in a wider sense can also mean “anyone there at the time” - especially in non-housing contexts (e.g. the occupants of a vehicle). So for the sake of eliminating all ambiguity I’d strike out Occupant, and stick with Resident as the most appropriate term.
Seems unlikely, or all vampires are just dumb. Just hypnotise a burglar and have them invite you in
How does the whole vampire thing work anyways? Like if there’s a hole in the wall breaking the integrity of the house are they still barred? How much of the house can be removed before it’s no longer considered a house? A whole wall? In that case could the police vampire just drill a hole or remove a wall?
What about people that live outside? Can they draw a line around “their” space and keep vampires out?
LOL. That’s good
And no they couldn’t unless they tricked you into saying yes come on.
No but if you are selling your home they could go for a viewing, kill and eat the realtor, and then drop from your ceiling and devour you when you come home.
