Warrantless Searches & Inspections

Past President and Legal Liason of The American Falconry Conservancy, Bill Murrin, has written what is essentially a legal brief on the power of the Fish & Wildlife Service, or any state Fish & Game Deptartment, to inspect and search. Anyone who feels they have been victim to what constitutes a 'warantless search' should read it, (it is long, and well worth your attention), and hand it straightaway to counsel, because it could form the basis of a defense.
Others may wish to read it, as it provides the legal reasoning whereby the AFC asserts falconers' rights as they pertain to inspections and searches. All of it is, of course, premised upon the idea that our birds, once legally harvested or purchased, are in fact private property, as George Allen and others have recently acknowledged.

Bridget Rocheford-Kearney
Secretary
American Falconry Conservancy


You can down load the document below

Thankyou for posting this Bridget.

I have to confess, that I haven't read all the way through it yet, but what I have looks great so far.

Back to the couch. Wince wince.

It occurs to me that the formatting is enough to make your eyes bleed. If anyone would like this as a word document, please PM me with your email address, and I will happily send it in a readable form.

And yeah, all of that legalese is enough to make anyone wince. Ya just don't wanna kick start bikes after reading it.

Bridget

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Originally Posted by Peregrinus

It occurs to me that the formatting is enough to make your eyes bleed. If anyone would like this as a word document, please PM me with your email address, and I will happily send it in a readable form.

And yeah, all of that legalese is enough to make anyone wince. Ya just don't wanna kick start bikes after reading it.

Bridget

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Thanks for the kind offer however, I was able to copy the whole thing and open it up and adjust the print size in Microsoft Word.

Yep, all that legalese does make for a sterile read. Don't worry, I won't be kick starting any bikes. The only kicking I'm gonna do this weekend is around the house.

Again, thanks for posting this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Peregrinus

It occurs to me that the formatting is enough to make your eyes bleed. If anyone would like this as a word document, please PM me with your email address, and I will happily send it in a readable form.

And yeah, all of that legalese is enough to make anyone wince. Ya just don't wanna kick start bikes after reading it.

Bridget

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Bridget,

thank you for posting this. I am sorry the limit wasn't increased enough

email Me the word document and I will upload it to NAFEX so others can download it from this thread

Cheers

Chris

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris L.

Bridget,

thank you for posting this. I am sorry the limit wasn't increased enough

email Me the word document and I will upload it to NAFEX so others can download it from this thread

Cheers

Chris

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That would be sweet. Won't be far from Murrin's place this weekend. Be nice ta talk to him again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lowachi

That would be sweet. Won't be far from Murrin's place this weekend. Be nice ta talk to him again

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Rich,

no problem. As soon as I hear from her I will hook it up

How far away is Murrin from you ?

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Originally Posted by Chris L.

Rich,

no problem. As soon as I hear from her I will hook it up

How far away is Murrin from you ?

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He's 40 miles from me. Rich is coming here to pick up an very nice pair of breeding peregrines. A gift. If he gets here in time we'll fly the two youngsters I kept.

Brad

Chris-

It is done. A downloadable file will make for easier reading, though I admire the tenacity of anyone who may have slogged through it in that format.

Bridget

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chris L.

Bridget,

thank you for posting this. I am sorry the limit wasn't increased enough

email Me the word document and I will upload it to NAFEX so others can download it from this thread

Cheers

Chris

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Bridget,
I updated your first post with the link..

Cheers

Chris

Actually there are many cases that support searches without a warrant, including but not limited to, administrative searches. I would recommend caution if anyone plans on taking any action based on this alleged "legal brief" as the author is not an attorney.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gbearn

Actually there are many cases that support searches without a warrant, including but not limited to, administrative searches. I would recommend caution if anyone plans on taking any action based on this alleged "legal brief" as the author is not an attorney.

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Sure, there are cases that support warrantless searches, but in the case of administrative searches only in situations that have a strong public interest (and usually only in the 'immediate health and safety of others' context), and no cases that would support a wildlife official conducting a warrantless search of your property for no other reason than the regulation says they can, without showing the existence of some exigent circumstance. If some wildlife officer came to my house demanding to search my property just because of the language of the regulation I would absolutely refuse him entry unless he came back with a warrant.

Thanks,
Ted

Thank You Bridget and also Richard, for your Alaska out of state take thread, things have been pretty quiet around here! I would love to have a look, Murrin is a brilliant man and a great patriot!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ted Bell

Sure, there are cases that support warrantless searches, but in the case of administrative searches only in situations that have a strong public interest (and usually only in the 'immediate health and safety of others' context), and no cases that would support a wildlife official conducting a warrantless search of your property for no other reason than the regulation says they can, without showing the existence of some exigent circumstance. If some wildlife officer came to my house demanding to search my property just because of the language of the regulation I would absolutely refuse him entry unless he came back with a warrant.

Thanks,
Ted

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Say goodbye to your license if you do that.

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Originally Posted by gbearn

Say goodbye to your license if you do that.

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Maybe, but only temporarily until the case works its way through the court system. I'm pretty confident I would get my license back at the first level - the Feds can try and pursue the case further all they want after that.

Key part being "my property". They HAVE to have a warrant for that. They can inspect the facilities (or anywhere you keep said bird) and the bird. Stops there.