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. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediate surrounding area. The Court reaffirmed the doctrine in 1984 when it held that property owners have no “reasonable expectation of privacy” on any land the Court deems to be an “open field.”
However, Institute for Justice attorneys, arguing on behalf of Rainwaters and Hollingsworth, said that doctrine violates the Tennessee Constitution. They won their court battles, including the most recent decision from the Tennessee Court of Appeals. TWRA's next course of action would have been to appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, however the Agency has decided it will not appeal.

That SCOTUS ruling (and the follow up) were blatant violations of the 4th Amendment and need to be overturned yesterday. 

Of course, the news outlet linked interviewed current and former TWRA officers, who lamented this decision. Of course, they point to potential negative outcomes. All arms of Law enforcement tend to mostly despise having rules to play by. They tend to want to enact more tyrannical policies. They always point to more "safety" or "law and order" as reasons why. Those are rarely the real reasons.

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Now, they will just have to do better police work. Such a shame. 

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Three cheers for Tennessee courts for getting this one right!

Liberty.