User Panel
Posted: 5/16/2024 8:23:46 PM EDT
https://ij.org/press-release/property-owners-win-again-tennessee-appeals-court-affirms-that-warrantless-searches-by-game-wardens-are-unconstitutional/
JACKSON, Tenn.—Last week, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Jackson affirmed that the Tennessee Constitution bars game wardens from conducting warrantless searches of private property. The ruling upholds a circuit court victory for Benton County landowners Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth. Terry and Hunter sued with the Institute for Justice (IJ) after the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) ignored their “No Trespassing” signs by entering and installing cameras on their land. The victory applies broadly to all private land Tennesseans have put to “actual use,” whether by fencing, farming, posting, gating, hunting, fishing, camping, or otherwise. “This decision is a massive win for property rights in Tennessee,” said IJ Attorney and Elfie Gallun Fellow in Freedom and the Constitution Joshua Windham. “TWRA claimed unfettered power to put on full camouflage, invade people’s land, roam around as it pleases, take photos, record videos, sift through ponds, spy on people from behind bushes—all without consent, a warrant, or any meaningful limits on their power. This decision confirms that granting state officials unfettered power to invade private land is anathema to Tennesseans’ most basic constitutional rights.” Judge Jeffrey Usman wrote for the unanimous Court of Appeals that “TWRA’s contention is a disturbing assertion of power on behalf of the government that stands contrary to the foundations of the search protections against arbitrary governmental intrusions in the American legal tradition, generally, and in [Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution], specifically.” Usman noted that TWRA’s argument could be compared to warrantless searches conducted by British authorities that motived the American Revolution. Usman also rejected the idea that rural Tennesseans deserve any less protection against government intrusion than people in urban areas, explaining that the “Tennessee Constitution does not disfavor actual uses [of property] more commonly associated with rural areas.” “This decision has been a long time coming,” said Terry Rainwaters. “For too long, TWRA officers have treated my private land like public property. But in Tennessee, our land means something to us. It’s part of who we are. And to hear the court say that our land deserves protection from TWRA’s warrantless intrusions makes me proud to be a Tennessean.” “TWRA’s abuse of power had to stop,” said Hunter Hollingsworth. “For as long as I can remember, these officers have acted like a law unto themselves. But nobody—not even a game warden—is above the Constitution, and yesterday’s decision makes that crystal clear. I’d like to thank the Institute for Justice for helping us fight this battle for so many years, and my local attorney Jack Leonard, who has been by my side on this case since day one.” TWRA thought that its warrantless searches were legal under the century-old federal “open fields” doctrine. In 1924, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediately surrounding area. The Court reaffirmed the doctrine in 1984 when it held that property owners have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” on any land the Court deems to be an “open field”—a broad category that, according to a new IJ study, includes about 96% of all land nationwide and at least 92% of land in Tennessee specifically. “Fortunately, the Tennessee Constitution provides greater protection than what the U.S. Supreme Court currently says about the Fourth Amendment,” said IJ Senior Attorney Robert Frommer. “The Tennessee Constitution, like several other state constitutions, protects ‘possessions’ from ‘unreasonable searches.’ The term ‘possessions’ plainly covers private land, and it’s heartening to see the Court of Appeals reject the federal rule and reaffirm Tennesseans’ cherished right to be secure on that land.” In addition to declaring TWRA’s warrantless searches unconstitutional, the court upheld Terry’s and Hunter’s request for $1 in damages as compensation for the violation of their state constitutional rights. TWRA now has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The case is another major victory for IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment, which strives to protect one of our foundational property rights: the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. IJ is currently defending landowners’ rights to be secure from similar warrantless intrusions in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court likely to hear argument later this year. View Quote |
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I think the hardest thing for good LE working for good agencies to really absorb is that there are whole departments full of exactly the complete fuckheads we rail against here. - vectorsc
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This needs to be done nationwide.
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This ruling is gonna hurt some feelz.
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Aimless - The police academy ain't med school
Aimless - Crying on a Dwi arrest because there is a kid in the car is a sign of some underlying mental health issues. CallSign : Armbar |
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Finally, please come to my state soon.
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Meh - they'll still do it.
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$1 suit to prove a MASSIVE POINT
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Somewhere in the middle of hardcore Conservative and Libertarian.
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That's a big deal. It really is.
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It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
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Good ruling.
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Good! Why they ever thought that the Constitution didn't apply to them is beyond me. The fact that they were breaking the law only proved that we need the Constitution to protect us from the government not it from us.
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A socialist may indeed be academically superior.
And yet, they are most certainly emotionally retarded. Public education is the opiate of the masses. |
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Water cops and game wardens need rolled back a few notches.
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Good
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"I miss the days of being able to shoot all commies" G.B.
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Originally Posted By JKH62: Water cops and game wardens need rolled back a few notches. View Quote Grouper troopers are the most feared group of law enforcement in Florida. They can point a finger at you and they OWN you. I've never been able to understand their scope of power, and how they take advantage of it. |
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It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
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Now do the Coast Guard and Wildlife when they board US citizens' boats
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Aimless --- The Suburban potbellied Snow Chicken
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Good. Crooked game wardens ruined bird hunting for me as a kid.
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We used to have Reagan, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope. Now we have Biden, no cash, and no hope.
To anger a conservative, tell him a lie; to anger a liberal, tell him the truth. |
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Institute for Justice is a damn good bunch.
They've taken a bunch of cases to the SCOTUS, including Kelo v. New London. |
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"Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." - Ronald Reagan
"Everything I want to do is illegal." - Joel Salatin |
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Next do “It’s MY property! Stay the fuck off! (And that means YOU, Mr. Game Warden.”
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In America, the village idiots have organized.
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Originally Posted By AA717driver: Next do “It’s MY property! Stay the fuck off! (And that means YOU, Mr. Game Warden.” View Quote Things that make you think "no shit, why do we have to go through courts for this?" If you can't keep government agents without a warrant off, you don't have any rights. Fuck them acting like thugs and criminals. |
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FPNI!!!
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Drone sales to fish and game departments will skyrocket.
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Certified Glock Armorer
Retired Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor |
fpni and in before fish cops are good cops like the regular cops.
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Originally Posted By Dagger41: Grouper troopers are the most feared group of law enforcement in Florida. They can point a finger at you and they OWN you. I've never been able to understand their scope of power, and how they take advantage of it. View Quote just like the stone crab and lobsta cops. |
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It's a strange, strange world we live in, Master Jack
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Certified Glock Armorer
Retired Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor |
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Way past time for that. Next get rid of qualified immunity so the possum police can enjoy the penalties when they disregard the law and do what they want anyway.
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If you think I am sexy now just wait until you find out I have full medical and dental.
Personal pronouns are kiushgvlakjbnoiuvb/nxunefu ewdf/lkujghfoiuanxy;ople |
Originally Posted By Ryan_Scott: Is there an exception to where they don't need pilots licenses? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Ryan_Scott: Originally Posted By Markypie: Drone sales to fish and game departments will skyrocket. Is there an exception to where they don't need pilots licenses? But they can turn over the civil finding to another party to get a warrant for criminal charges. |
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About damn time. TWRA has been allowed to do as they please for a long time. They placed decoy deer on our dairy farm numerous times even though we had Posted No Trespassing signs all the way around our 280 acres.
Dad went and picked up one of the mechanical deer and took it into our basement. Game warden had to take dad to court to try and get it returned. County Judge sided with my dad. TWRA ended up having to buy it back. And repair fencing the agents had fucked up climbing back and forth. I ended up getting pulled over a lot during the subsequent deer seasons to check for a loaded rifle as I was suspected of "road hunting". |
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I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me and say "You're next". They stopped that when I started doing it to them at funerals.
Sic semper evello mortem tyrannis |
mind if i check your cooler?
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Originally Posted By PepePewPew: https://ij.org/press-release/property-owners-win-again-tennessee-appeals-court-affirms-that-warrantless-searches-by-game-wardens-are-unconstitutional/ JACKSON, Tenn.—Last week, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Jackson affirmed that the Tennessee Constitution bars game wardens from conducting warrantless searches of private property. The ruling upholds a circuit court victory for Benton County landowners Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth. Terry and Hunter sued with the Institute for Justice (IJ) after the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) ignored their “No Trespassing” signs by entering and installing cameras on their land. The victory applies broadly to all private land Tennesseans have put to “actual use,” whether by fencing, farming, posting, gating, hunting, fishing, camping, or otherwise. “This decision is a massive win for property rights in Tennessee,” said IJ Attorney and Elfie Gallun Fellow in Freedom and the Constitution Joshua Windham. “TWRA claimed unfettered power to put on full camouflage, invade people’s land, roam around as it pleases, take photos, record videos, sift through ponds, spy on people from behind bushes—all without consent, a warrant, or any meaningful limits on their power. This decision confirms that granting state officials unfettered power to invade private land is anathema to Tennesseans’ most basic constitutional rights.” Judge Jeffrey Usman wrote for the unanimous Court of Appeals that “TWRA’s contention is a disturbing assertion of power on behalf of the government that stands contrary to the foundations of the search protections against arbitrary governmental intrusions in the American legal tradition, generally, and in [Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution], specifically.” Usman noted that TWRA’s argument could be compared to warrantless searches conducted by British authorities that motived the American Revolution. Usman also rejected the idea that rural Tennesseans deserve any less protection against government intrusion than people in urban areas, explaining that the “Tennessee Constitution does not disfavor actual uses [of property] more commonly associated with rural areas.” “This decision has been a long time coming,” said Terry Rainwaters. “For too long, TWRA officers have treated my private land like public property. But in Tennessee, our land means something to us. It’s part of who we are. And to hear the court say that our land deserves protection from TWRA’s warrantless intrusions makes me proud to be a Tennessean.” “TWRA’s abuse of power had to stop,” said Hunter Hollingsworth. “For as long as I can remember, these officers have acted like a law unto themselves. But nobody—not even a game warden—is above the Constitution, and yesterday’s decision makes that crystal clear. I’d like to thank the Institute for Justice for helping us fight this battle for so many years, and my local attorney Jack Leonard, who has been by my side on this case since day one.” TWRA thought that its warrantless searches were legal under the century-old federal “open fields” doctrine. In 1924, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediately surrounding area. The Court reaffirmed the doctrine in 1984 when it held that property owners have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” on any land the Court deems to be an “open field”—a broad category that, according to a new IJ study, includes about 96% of all land nationwide and at least 92% of land in Tennessee specifically. “Fortunately, the Tennessee Constitution provides greater protection than what the U.S. Supreme Court currently says about the Fourth Amendment,” said IJ Senior Attorney Robert Frommer. “The Tennessee Constitution, like several other state constitutions, protects ‘possessions’ from ‘unreasonable searches.’ The term ‘possessions’ plainly covers private land, and it’s heartening to see the Court of Appeals reject the federal rule and reaffirm Tennesseans’ cherished right to be secure on that land.” In addition to declaring TWRA’s warrantless searches unconstitutional, the court upheld Terry’s and Hunter’s request for $1 in damages as compensation for the violation of their state constitutional rights. TWRA now has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The case is another major victory for IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment, which strives to protect one of our foundational property rights: the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. IJ is currently defending landowners’ rights to be secure from similar warrantless intrusions in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court likely to hear argument later this year. View Quote View Quote Lets do the Coast Guard next, fucking assholes checking if I have a fire extinguisher or flares that are still in date.... I have 20 years of flares that still work that are out of date by 17 years. No search warrant? Get the fuck off my boat. |
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Originally Posted By PepePewPew: https://ij.org/press-release/property-owners-win-again-tennessee-appeals-court-affirms-that-warrantless-searches-by-game-wardens-are-unconstitutional/ JACKSON, Tenn. Last week, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Jackson affirmed that the Tennessee Constitution bars game wardens from conducting warrantless searches of private property. The ruling upholds a circuit court victory for Benton County landowners Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth. Terry and Hunter sued with the Institute for Justice (IJ) after the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) ignored their "No Trespassing" signs by entering and installing cameras on their land. The victory applies broadly to all private land Tennesseans have put to "actual use," whether by fencing, farming, posting, gating, hunting, fishing, camping, or otherwise. "This decision is a massive win for property rights in Tennessee," said IJ Attorney and Elfie Gallun Fellow in Freedom and the Constitution Joshua Windham. "TWRA claimed unfettered power to put on full camouflage, invade people's land, roam around as it pleases, take photos, record videos, sift through ponds, spy on people from behind bushes all without consent, a warrant, or any meaningful limits on their power. This decision confirms that granting state officials unfettered power to invade private land is anathema to Tennesseans' most basic constitutional rights." Judge Jeffrey Usman wrote for the unanimous Court of Appeals that "TWRA's contention is a disturbing assertion of power on behalf of the government that stands contrary to the foundations of the search protections against arbitrary governmental intrusions in the American legal tradition, generally, and in [Article I, Section 7 of the Tennessee Constitution], specifically." Usman noted that TWRA's argument could be compared to warrantless searches conducted by British authorities that motived the American Revolution. Usman also rejected the idea that rural Tennesseans deserve any less protection against government intrusion than people in urban areas, explaining that the "Tennessee Constitution does not disfavor actual uses [of property] more commonly associated with rural areas." "This decision has been a long time coming," said Terry Rainwaters. "For too long, TWRA officers have treated my private land like public property. But in Tennessee, our land means something to us. It's part of who we are. And to hear the court say that our land deserves protection from TWRA's warrantless intrusions makes me proud to be a Tennessean." "TWRA's abuse of power had to stop," said Hunter Hollingsworth. "For as long as I can remember, these officers have acted like a law unto themselves. But nobody not even a game warden is above the Constitution, and yesterday's decision makes that crystal clear. I'd like to thank the Institute for Justice for helping us fight this battle for so many years, and my local attorney Jack Leonard, who has been by my side on this case since day one." TWRA thought that its warrantless searches were legal under the century-old federal "open fields" doctrine. In 1924, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediately surrounding area. The Court reaffirmed the doctrine in 1984 when it held that property owners have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" on any land the Court deems to be an "open field" a broad category that, according to a new IJ study, includes about 96% of all land nationwide and at least 92% of land in Tennessee specifically. "Fortunately, the Tennessee Constitution provides greater protection than what the U.S. Supreme Court currently says about the Fourth Amendment," said IJ Senior Attorney Robert Frommer. "The Tennessee Constitution, like several other state constitutions, protects 'possessions' from 'unreasonable searches.' The term 'possessions' plainly covers private land, and it's heartening to see the Court of Appeals reject the federal rule and reaffirm Tennesseans' cherished right to be secure on that land." In addition to declaring TWRA's warrantless searches unconstitutional, the court upheld Terry's and Hunter's request for $1 in damages as compensation for the violation of their state constitutional rights. TWRA now has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Tennessee Supreme Court. The case is another major victory for IJ's Project on the Fourth Amendment, which strives to protect one of our foundational property rights: the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. IJ is currently defending landowners' rights to be secure from similar warrantless intrusions in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court likely to hear argument later this year. View Quote View Quote |
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good
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Democratic party=new communist party
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Claude Dallas Thread?
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Fuck the twig pigs.
Growing up, I wanted to be one. I thought I'd be running around the woods, chasing bad guys and helping the needy. I went on a ridealong with a DNR officer. He took pleasure in confiscating butchered venison from a poor family while I tagged along. He then tossed the meat in the trash behind Zup's. |
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Good, very good. A glorious day for the Liberty of the Citizens of Tennessee. As others have said, make freedom from fish tyranny reign nation wide. Do the Coast Guard as well.
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Capitalism produces, communism reduces.
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Originally Posted By TruckinAR: Now do the Coast Guard and Wildlife when they board US citizens' boats View Quote Good luck with that! The U.S.C.G. is very clearly defined. If you are a U.S. vessel or if there is a treati with another nation state you can pretty much be boarded at any time. Sometimes your state department gets a heads up beforehand. C.G. for domestic boaters is similar to state troopers/ Highway patrol. They can suspend your travel at any point until they ascertain your intentions and take their terserly search. And a brief visual inventory search of the vessel. If such visual evidence is noted and can be documented and substantiated. A more investigative search can be warranted. Believe, me you got both sides on both sides of the line. And by that I mean Joe Blow just punching a clock and small dicked short MOFO's that live to put their boot on the publics neck. |
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America, turn to God because only He can save us!
TN, USA
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And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.-- Acts 2:21
"The only reason after 243 years that the Government now wants to disarm you, is they intend to do something you would shoot them for." |
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Good ruling...
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Ad Lucem: Towards Light
This information is a general statement of law and procedure and not a substitute for specific legal advice from a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. |
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Originally Posted By blindprophet501: https://imgs.search.brave.com/jvHHKCQPtgnt_jq3qSuOHh_A-IAEPBHhaFVtn1bj9Wk/rs:fit:500:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWcu/aWZ1bm55LmNvL2lt/YWdlcy83ZWJlYTQy/Y2JlZjU0MDUzNGQx/OWYwY2ZkNWQyNjUw/MzFkMmJjMTIxZjNk/YTVhMmE5ODI5MDk0/ZmZhNmYwMTdhXzEu/anBn View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By blindprophet501: Originally Posted By TruckinAR: Now do the Coast Guard and Wildlife when they board US citizens' boats We were fishing Mobile Bay and it was a dead day for the Fish police and the Coast Guard. So, we were easy targets when they rolled up for an inspection. We're fishing in a boat owned by a friend of a friend and he tells the coast guard that if they board his boat we'd be over the person limit of the boat, lol. Coast Guard was like that's ok I'm wearing my life preserver. We passed the inspection just fine. |
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