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Tennessee Appeals Court Rules Against Wildlife Agents Who Planted Cameras on Private Land
Reason ^ | 5/10/24 | Joe Lancaster

Posted on 05/11/2024 10:54:00 AM PDT by CFW

In December 2022, Reason reported that both state and federal wildlife agents routinely trespass onto private land and plant cameras. Two Tennessee homeowners successfully sued the state over the practice, and a three-judge panel ruled in their favor. The state appealed the decision, and this week the court of appeals ruled in the homeowners' favor.

At issue is a state law allowing officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency (TWRA) to "go upon any property, outside of buildings, posted or otherwise," in order to "enforce all laws relating to wildlife." In the case of Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth, TWRA officers not only entered their respective properties but also installed trail cameras to look for hunting violations, all without a warrant and ignoring "No Trespassing" signs. A lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice (I.J.) on behalf of Rainwaters and Hollingsworth asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional and issue an injunction against the TWRA, barring it from carrying out any further unwarranted intrusions.

(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Front Page News; Government; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: 4thamendment; civilrights; donutwatch; jbt; privacy; surveillance; tennessee; trespass; wildlifeagents
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Good ruling from the TN Court of Appeals.
1 posted on 05/11/2024 10:54:00 AM PDT by CFW
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To: CFW

Never have understood why a landowner needs a license to hunt and fish on his own land.


2 posted on 05/11/2024 10:59:17 AM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing)
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To: Flaming Conservative

“Never have understood why a landowner needs a license to hunt and fish on his own land.”

Because the wildlife belongs to the King.


3 posted on 05/11/2024 11:02:26 AM PDT by dljordan (What do you think?)
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To: Flaming Conservative

You don’t here in Alabama.Your land is your land here.


4 posted on 05/11/2024 11:08:58 AM PDT by eastforker (All in, I'm all Trump,what you got!)
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To: CFW

Fantastic ruling. It has been a long time coming.


5 posted on 05/11/2024 11:11:52 AM PDT by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: Flaming Conservative

Strange. I didn’t know homeowners had rights!


6 posted on 05/11/2024 11:12:53 AM PDT by TribalPrincess2U (Bye done!)
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To: CFW
According to the Griswold decision, this would be a violation of the 3rd amendment, with the agents effectively "quartering" on someone's property to spy on the goings on there.

-PJ

7 posted on 05/11/2024 11:15:10 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
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To: Political Junkie Too

What? The birth control decision is a precedent in this case? If so, the law is a really convoluted thing.


8 posted on 05/11/2024 11:18:51 AM PDT by who_would_fardels_bear (Kafka was an optimist.)
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To: CFW

It’s called trespass...pure and simple. Why did it even go to court?


9 posted on 05/11/2024 11:23:50 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: eastforker

Good!


10 posted on 05/11/2024 11:24:48 AM PDT by Flaming Conservative ((Pray without ceasing)
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To: eastforker
You don’t here in Alabama. Your land is your land here.

Do property owners have to pay property taxes in Al.? If so then you don't own your land, you rent it from the sovereign.

11 posted on 05/11/2024 11:25:41 AM PDT by Nuc 1.1 (Liberals aren't Patriots. Remember 1789!)
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To: Sacajaweau
It’s called trespass...pure and simple. Why did it even go to court?

Because precedent had been set where the land did not have fences, obvious boundaries, or No Trespass signs.

The Agencies tried to push that precedent to land which had fences, obvious boundaries and/or No Trespass signs.

12 posted on 05/11/2024 11:26:58 AM PDT by marktwain (The Republic is at risk. Resistance to the Democratic Party is Resistance to Tyranny. )
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To: who_would_fardels_bear
No, the "privacy" decision was.

Griswold is the decision that created the phrase “penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.”

The 3rd amendment protection from quartering soldiers in peacetime was one of those "guarantees" cited in Griswold that defined "zones of privacy" where people are free from agents of the state.

One example of such a "zone of privacy" would be if agents from child protective services kept harassing home schooling parents by making repeated surprise appearances at people's homes with no other probable cause than home schooling. In that same vein, these agents posting cameras on someone's private property to look for hunting violations as if they "lived there," would be a similar violation.

-PJ

13 posted on 05/11/2024 11:29:24 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
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To: marktwain
Yeh...we put up trespass signs...when we're away...folks ignoe them. We put up cameras...they stole them.

In my mind...if it's not mine...I don't belong there. The law is suppose to protect me...not the trespasser.

14 posted on 05/11/2024 11:34:18 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: CFW

Land rights are sketchy at best... And governments have rights to go on your property. It’s sad and infuriating, but true and when and if this is appealed to a higher court and ultimately to the Supreme Court, the state will eventually win.


15 posted on 05/11/2024 11:34:26 AM PDT by jerod (Nazis were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: Flaming Conservative

Never been a problem on our farm.
Don’t believe an landowner in Tennessee has to get a license, nobody in my family has been asked to show one.
Of course we could always pull out the “nuisance animal” card that we would claim was a danger or injurious to our crops, cattle.


16 posted on 05/11/2024 11:38:13 AM PDT by RedMonqey ("A republic, if you can keep it" Benjamin Franklin.)
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To: CFW

“ Under the “open-fields doctrine,” Supreme Court precedent dating back to Prohibition holds that undeveloped land on someone’s property lacks the same rigorous Fourth Amendment protections as their home and the “curtilage,” the area immediately surrounding the home.”

Revenuers needed to find those whiskey stills. Bad policy makes bad law. They created a doctrine solely to find a way to catch moonshiners.


17 posted on 05/11/2024 11:41:19 AM PDT by DesertRhino (2016 Star Wars, 2020 The Empire Strikes Back, 2024... RETURN OF THE JEDI. )
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To: Nuc 1.1

If you ever have any doubts about who owns what, just don’t pay your property taxes and you will quickly find out who the owner is.


18 posted on 05/11/2024 11:51:25 AM PDT by Saintgermain ( )
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To: CFW

Give them an inch...Why not plant microphones on the property as well? Sure the FBI would like to know what’s being said so they can plan a little “visit.” The law itself sounds like a violation of the 4th, but it’s no surprise given the proliferation of so-called “red flag” laws..


19 posted on 05/11/2024 11:57:47 AM PDT by DPMD (ua)
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To: Flaming Conservative

Flaming Conservative wrote: “Never have understood why a landowner needs a license to hunt and fish on his own land.”

Not required in Alabama. A landowner and immediate family can hunt on property they own w/o license. Must be able to prove it’s their property, drivers license or other proof of residency.

I’m sure it varies state to state.


20 posted on 05/11/2024 11:59:16 AM PDT by DugwayDuke (Most pick the expert who says the things they agree with.)
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