âCommon lawâ has no relevance to state law matters in the US (nor Federal, for that matter). Here is the relevant statute in this case:
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-750-552
The bar for trespass is met only if the perpetrator has been âforbiddenâ from accessing the property by the owner. This does not have to be in person, or verbal. A âkeep outâ or âno trespassingâ sign would suffice, and this is why such things exist. In this case I would be immensely surprised if there werenât some kind of employees only, authorized personnel only, or keep out sign posted on whatever method of ingress was used to reach the inside of the sign.
The intent of this is clear, itâs so nobody can get done for merely setting foot on a property in some situation where they didnât realize theyâd left public right of way or a property where they had authorization to be. You have to tell the person to GTFO (either preemptively or upon discovery) and if they donât, then they can be arrested.
Ohh, my bad. Yâall mean like âgiven noticeâ, not like âdisturbing the ownerâ. I read that too fast.
Common law is still valid in every state in the US (except maybe Louisiana), although obviously statutory law usually overrides it. Youâre right that thereâs no federal common law since Erie v. Tompkins though.
And I agree with your analysis of that statute. That is interesting too, since my state, Illinois, does not require explicitly being forbidden by the owner. Itâs much more in line with the common law idea of trespassing as simply being going somewhere without authority, express or implied.
