State wildlife agency sued for secret surveillance on private land – Tennessee Lookout

Supreme Court of the United States and the Tennessee Constitution

TWRA officials said last week they don’t comment on pending litigation, but in legal documents and affidavits filed in the case, state wildlife officers said they must have the flexibility to enter private property to do their jobs. The agency’s mission is to protect wildlife and enforce hunting, fishing, and boating rules.

Because 90 percent of the land in Tennessee is privately owned and where most of the hunting takes place, TWRA officers cannot do their jobs without patrolling private property, attorneys for the TWRA argued. TWRA.

TWRA has also cited a well-established precedent from the US Supreme Court, known as the “open fields” doctrine. The doctrine says that property owners do not have a “reasonable expectation of privacy” on private land that is considered open land, property that is outside the immediate vicinity of the owner’s home and yard, such as an outside farm field. of the farmer’s property.

The US Supreme Court has held that warrantless searches of open fields do not violate the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Joshua Windham, an attorney with the Institute for Justice representing Hollingsworth and Rainwaters, said the Tennessee Constitution provides its own protections and that the law giving TWRA the right to trespass on private property clearly conflicts with the state constitution.

“It’s a law enforcement agency that believes it has complete discretion,” Windham said, noting that no other law enforcement agency in the state has the same powers to enter private property without a warrant as it does. state law TWRA.

An armed raid, then robbery charges

Hollingsworth has been hunting on the 90-acre property, a mix of swampy habitat, fields and tree cover, which has been owned by his family since he was a teenager.

The site is only accessible through a gate marked “private property” that leads to a primitive dirt road, first winding through his neighbors’ property before reaching the vacant lot his father bought 25 years ago.

The land is reserved solely for hunting and recreation, Hollingsworth said. He and his friends have hunted rabbits, turkeys, deer, ducks and raccoons since he was a teenager, he said. He and his girlfriend have also occasionally camped on the property.

The camera, Hollingsworth said, was a sharp invasion of privacy, capable of capturing images of him being intimate with his girlfriend, relieving himself outdoors and partying with his friends.

But what happened after he discovered the secret surveillance worries Hollingsworth more.

Weeks after discovering the secret chamber, he heard a knock on the door of his house, located on a separate property.

It was early in the day and Hollingworth and his girlfriend weren’t fully dressed. Outside were at least a half-dozen men dressed in khaki pants and bulletproof vests, including at least one armed with an assault rifle, Hollingsworth said. Startled, Hollingsworth’s girlfriend ran into the bedroom.

Both were detained and arrested.

Hollingsworth was charged with six counts related to illegal hunting of waterfowl, including illegal baiting of game birds.

He and his girlfriend were also charged with a seventh count: stealing the surveillance camera secretly installed on their property.

The camera, according to court documents, was installed after US Fish and Wildlife Service agents were contacted by TWRA agents alleging Hollingsworth was violating federal game bird regulations. Federal authorities obtained a warrant for the camera. In court documents, TWRA officials noted that the order was unnecessary.

In the course of the lawsuit Hollingsworth and his neighbor later filed, dozens of video and photographic evidence emerged showing instances in which TWRA officers, armed with their own cameras and audio recording equipment, and sometimes crouching behind the bushes, they captured Hollingsworth and his friends in a game of shootouts.

While athletes are required to wear bright clothing as a sign of their presence to other hunters, TWRA officials do not, creating a potentially dangerous situation during surreptitious surveillance, Windham said. Video taken by TWRA officers shows them in the line of fire for hunters.

Some videos captured TWRA officers trudging through Hollingsworth’s secluded property and recounting their surveillance of corn kernels near duck blinds or damp fields with remnants of corn cobs.

Audio evidence presented in the case captured at least one occasion when Hollingsworth was on his property when he was confronted by TWRA officials.

“Hunter, stop for a second, okay?” the TWRA agent told Hollingsworth. “We have some things to talk about. Put your bucket down… We have some things to talk about. There’s no point in getting angry.

“There’s no point in you coming here every time I hunt,” Hollingsworth replied. “No one invites you.”

“When you bought your hunting license you invited me,” the agent replied.

Hollingsworth later pleaded guilty to one count of harassing wildlife, a charge he still denies. He lost his hunting license for three years. Charges against his friends and his girlfriend were dropped.

“I’m not saying I never did anything wrong,” he said. “But they threatened to accuse my girlfriend because she lives with me. She would have lost her job because she needs to travel for work. She has nothing to do with hunting.