Source.

How much power does the government claim on private land?

“Unfettered,” according to a Commonwealth Court decision in a case pitting the Pennsylvania Game Commission against two private gun clubs.

On Sept. 29, a court ruled against two hunting clubs in their lawsuit accusing the Game Commission of private property rights violations. The Institute for Justice represents both clubs and will appeal.

In its ruling, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania noted the government’s absolute power to “roam private land without consent, warrants or probable cause.”

“Private land isn’t public property,” says institute attorney Josh Windham. “That might seem obvious. But all too many officials, at every level of government, disagree. They think they have a blank check to invade private property. We’ll see what the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has to say about that.”

On Dec. 16, 2021, Pitch Pine and Punxsutawney hunting clubs sued the Game Commission after game wardens consistently entered club lands without permission or warrant, and secretly monitored club members, including photo collection via installation of a hidden game camera. The wardens’ behavior, the lawsuit asserted, was a direct violation of Pennsylvania’s state constitution, which explicitly protects “persons, houses, papers, and possessions.”

Most Americans assume law enforcement must obtain a warrant to enter or surveil private land, but for roughly a century, the Open Fields doctrine has allowed government officials, at state and federal levels, unqualified access to private land.

In its judgment Sept. 29, the Commonwealth Court detailed the alarming powers and “unfettered discretion” assumed by government via Open Fields:

“The facts of this case are not in dispute. The Hunting Clubs are member-owned hunting clubs that own thousands of acres of private land in Clearfield County. Members use the properties to hunt, vacation, and enjoy nature. To ensure their members’ privacy, the Hunting Clubs have posted their properties with no trespassing signs and have installed gates at all entrances to exclude nonmembers and intruders. However, the Entry Statutes empower game wardens with unfettered discretion to enter upon and roam private land without consent, warrants, or probable cause.”

People believe that DNR officers have more power than any other LEO, and DNR officers certainly act like it. Their claim is that since they are after perishable evidence, they need this access.

But that’s just too bad. Police who bust open doors looking for drugs are also after perishable evidence (the drugs could be flushed down a toilet). I have long held that police raids on homes are a violation of the fourth amendment and therefore unconstitutional. Any good man would believe the same thing.

The so-called “open fields” doctrine should be stricken from the books in every state where they exist. Furthermore, I generally don’t like the power granted by the state to game officers. Every man should obey the game laws. But every man won’t, just like crime will happen all day every day across America. Game laws are no different. Violation of game laws still falls within the purview of constitutional protections regardless of what agents of the state think.