Free Shower Curtain, or a Year in Jail?
Issue at hand: Can you really go to jail for taking hotel towels?
Credit: Screenshot from The Simpsons, Season 5, Episode 9, “The Last Temptation of Homer’' (9 December 1993). 20th Century Fox/Disney.
Have you ever stolen something from a hotel? What even counts as stealing and what is a “souvenir”? This post tries to answer this question by looking at how the law would consider Homer taking things from hotels.
In Season 5, Episode 9, The Last Temptation of Homer, Homer becomes infatuated with his coworker Mindy, goes on a business trip with her and stays in a nice hotel. When walking into his hotel room, he yells “Free mouthwash! Free shampoo! Free shower curtain!” Later that season, in episode 20, The Boy who Knew too Much, Homer is sequestered in a hotel with other jurors and Principal Skinner as his roommate. Principal Skinner asks Homer: “You’re stealing a table?” and Homer responds “Homer: I’m not stealing it. Hotels expect you to take a few things. It’s a souvenir!”
At the end of this episode, Homer has taken many items from his hotel room including lamps, a television, at least two paintings, a table, towels, some cups, and a lamp fixture.
Legal Question: If either hotel reported Homer to the police for theft, would Homer be able to say he was not stealing but that there is a custom of taking things from hotel rooms? Could he face criminal charges and be sent to jail?
Result: Hotel is unlikely to prosecute Homer, but likely to win if it did. Homer could be sent to jail.
Legal Background: To answer this question, we need to understand how hotels actually handle these situations. Hotels in the United States are unlikely to prosecute individuals for stealing room items. Theft from hotel rooms is actually quite common, particularly in luxurious hotels. A guest at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Los Angeles apparently chiseled out a marble fireplace and loaded the pieces into a truck. Some other bizarre items that have been removed from hotels include telephones, televisions, pianos, mattresses, room carpets, and bathroom fixtures.
From all accounts, it seems that there is prosecution only in very rare cases globally and there is no evidence of any prosecutions in the United States—even when it is clear who is responsible for the theft and it is expensive items like oriental rugs. At least in the case of luxury hotels, they do not want the bad publicity related to reporting these crimes.
Some hotels outside of the United States actually do go after offenders. For instance, in Japan, a young couple stole items like bathrobes and an ashtray, and were arrested. A woman at a Hilton in Nigeria was arrested for stealing two towels and an iron, and was then ordered to either pay $20 or spend three months in jail. However, such stories are quite rare and, based on the above accounts, it seems that hotel staff will instead replace the items rather than bother going after the criminals.
Analysis: So what if the Springfield hotels reported Homer like the Japanese and Nigerian hotels, what would happen?
If the Springfield hotels wanted to press charges against Homer, he would most likely face a misdemeanor or possibly a felony under state law. There is always a lot of variation among state laws in the United States. However, for the sake of argument, let’s take Oregon’s laws as an example, since that is the state where the Simpsons are supposedly from. Under Title 16 of the Oregon Revised Statutes, thefts that are:
Under $100 are a misdemeanor and carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 days;
Between $100 and $1000 are a misdemeanor and carry a maximum prison sentence of a year; and
Over $1000 are a felony and carry a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.
Given that the National City Hotel reporting Homer for a stolen shower curtain is quite unlikely, let’s just focus on the Springfield Palace Hotel where Homer stole most of the items in that room. In that case, Homer stole lamps, a television, at least two paintings, a table, towels, some cups, and a lamp fixture, which is more than $100, but likely under $1000. In theory, Homer could go to prison for up to a year.
Ultimately, stealing from hotels falls into the category of crimes like illegal downloading music/software, jaywalking, and going slightly over the speed limit. Even though these acts are formally illegal, it is usually not worth it for the state to expend resources to go after all of these different offenders. Free shower curtain indeed.