Its very true.

I reckon they have search and seizure powers other law enforcement don't .

So they have NO powers above any other law enforcement ?

4th Amendment is the same for all LE. Game Wardens have just gotten away with abuses because they haven't been challenged in court yet (here). A few years back the courts in Tennessee put an end to their trespassing and illegal game camera monitoring of private property.

Yep. Green Jeans has been violating rights for many years.

It's time to start challenging them in courts and set precedent.

4th Amendment is the same for all LE. Game Wardens have just gotten away with abuses because they haven't been challenged in court yet (here). A few years back the courts in Tennessee put an end to their trespassing and illegal game camera monitoring of private property.

GWs have no more legal rights than any other law enforcement agencies.

Info on the Tennessee case. Looks like its being appealed.

appeal

The issue with the Game cams might get ruled unconstitutional, but unless the Supreme Court wants to toss precedent by throwing out the Open Fields Doctrine, then I predict a partial upholding but not a complete one. We'll see. Apparently this USSC doesn't mind overturning precedent. I can see it going either way.

Its an interesting case. I always took the open fields doctrine to have more in common with a plain view search (obviously in other circumstances), not so much a free pass to enter private property and search or conduct surveillance. As an example, if driving by an open field on a public road an officer observes illegal activity and addresses it, that's one thing, but intentionally entering private property without probable cause on a fishing expedition is another. Maybe my understanding was incorrect but it has been hotly debated in various courts over the years and several have agreed.

lol, It DOES NOT have to be deboned. It simply has to be free of spinal fliud and/or brain matter. I saw a guy de-boning one this past year in Idaho on a side road and asked "WHY?". The knucklehead spent about 5hrs processing a deer because his friend told him it had to be deboned lol.

Yeah, my memory is getting a workout too. You're interpretation is the more accepted (in LE). As I reflect on this, my view was always refined by what I perceived was right. It just seems so un-American for the gov't to be able to access private property without probably cause. Private property rights are so fundamental. It is also potentially dangerous for all parties involved. Thanks much for your input.

Remember one of the truisms I always stated at the beginning of teaching a course was that what is moral isn't always legal and what is legal isn't always moral.

Jawbone . Just to split hairs.... lol


The states , open bag law says . "Animals taken in alabama " wonder how'd that would work out in court if it was taken out of state

A LEO cannot stop a vehicle leaving a bar or establishment merely because the driver left said establishment. Right? Guy walks out at 1 a.m., drives off, cop stops him a mile away to check. That's illegal. They must have legitimate probable cause to stop them.

(side note -- too much bad chit gets done when the LEO makes up something for a stop, but that's a discussion for another post)

How can a GW stop a truck coming from another state just because it's (1) A truck, (2) has mud or camo or a guy in camo, (3) has a covered camper or bed cover, (4) anything OTHER THAN a visible deer, whole, or deer parts in the bed-trailer-other that clearly would be visible?

They can't. Saying, "Oh, a truck coming from Tennessee, they might have a deer so let's check" is not probable cause. It's bullchit, nothing more than a DCNR version of Stop and Frisk, which was and is unconstitutional. It's the same chit they were doing with the roadblocks down in Barbour County a few years ago, checking drivers for licenses and any deer or wildlife "just because we can."

No one will challenge it, though, because they don't have the money, willpower or a "well, it doen't matter so let's all be good conservationists!" mentality.

If they're doing this on 65 and 231, or 72 coming from Mississippi, or any other border point, why aren't they set up and stopping vehicles on Highway 5 near Brent or US 331 or I-20 near Heflin or absolutely any other road in the state? Those trucks MIGHT have a deer in them. If these checkpoints are OK to do on 65 and 231, why aren't they doing them everywhere?