Fewer Warrantless Searches
The TWRA will not appeal a recent court loss regarding trespassing without warrants. TWRA officers had been sneaking onto private land to set up Game Cameras, and perform other surveillance activities. This all came to a head when TWRA officers placed cameras on the property of Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth. These men found the planted cameras and sued. Up until then, the Officers had been going onto private property under a presumed provision of "Open Fields Doctrine." From the article: In 2018 Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth found hidden cameras on their West Tennessee property. They subsequently sued TWRA for violating their rights under the state constitution. Up until then, TWRA wildlife law enforcement officers had operated under the "Open Fields Doctrine" - the legal basis used by wildlife law enforcers in numerous states and by federal wildlife law enforcers. In 1924, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. ...