Final answer:
Parker and Eddie can likely be charged with criminal damage to property since they intentionally shot firearms at boxcars, infringing on the railroad company's property rights. Their actions satisfy the requisite elements for criminal damage, and according to the Coase theorem and legal ownership principles, they may be held responsible for damages.
Step-by-step explanation:
Parker and Eddie, by knowingly shooting at boxcars, can likely be charged with criminal damage to property. In legal terms, property rights are the legal rights of ownership that others are not allowed to infringe without paying compensation. Given that the boxcars belong to the railroad company, which has the property right to maintain its trains, any intentional damage to these boxcars would be a direct infringement on the railroad company's property rights. The act of shooting at the boxcars demonstrates intent to damage, which satisfies one of the elements needed to be proven in a criminal damage to property case.
According to the Coase theorem, which discusses the importance of well-defined legal responsibilities, if a party is responsible for property, they must seek out the least costly method of reducing risk to that property. In this scenario, the railroad owns the boxcars and Parker and Eddie's actions directly lead to damage; therefore, they may be held accountable for repairs or other compensation as per the law's requirements.
Additionally, in criminal cases like this one, where there is intent and action that results in property damage, liability is typically assigned to the perpetrator(s). Thus, Parker and Eddie could face legal consequences for their actions.