Yesterday, the Institute for Justice won a sweeping victory for property rights and privacy in our case against Tennessee officials who regularly intruded on our clients’ private land without a warrant.

For years, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officials snooped around Terry Rainwaters’ and Hunter Hollingsworth’s properties uninvited and without a warrant. Officers ignored “no trespassing” signs to engage in intrusive and sometimes downright creepy behavior: They took pictures of both men and their family members; skulked in bushes watching family and guests hunt; and, in Terry’s case, installed surveillance cameras to watch his house 24/7.

Government officials claimed that they could do all of this because of the so-called “open fields” doctrine. Developed by courts during the Prohibition era, this doctrine wrongly claims that the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect any land beyond the home and its immediately surrounding area. But the Tennessee court in our case rejected this approach and ruled that the law enabling the searches violates the Tennessee Constitution’s equivalent of the Fourth Amendment. The court declared that the TWRA’s searches were unreasonable, unconstitutional, and "dangerous to liberty."

This win not only shields two families from intrusive surveillance—it also applies broadly to private land throughout Tennessee. And our victory comes shortly after the launch last year of IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment <[link removed]>, which strives to protect one of America’s foundational property rights: the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Donate today to help IJ protect property and privacy for all Americans and safeguard the constitutional rights we hold most dear. <[link removed]>

Scott

Scott G. Bullock
President and General Counsel
Institute for Justice



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