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Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Enviroment - "Beverly Shores couple challenges state hunter harassment law"
On Oct. 14, 2005 the Munster (NW Indiana) Times ran a story by Bob Kasarda (see ILB entry here, 2nd item) that began:
Beverly Shores residents Frederick and Rosanne Shuger are posing what is said to be the first legal challenge to the state's hunter harassment law. The Shugers filed notice of their intention to appeal their hunter harassment convictions from this past summer.Today the Munster (NW Indiana) Times has another story by Kasarda on the suit. Some quotes:
The couple targeted a section of the law that prohibits behaviors "that will tend to disturb or otherwise affect the behavior of a game animal."The wording is unconstitutional in that it is both over broad and vague, according to the challenge filed with Indiana Court of Appeals.
"There is no objective description of what behavior would land you in trouble with the state," said the couple's Chicago attorney, James Morsch. "Are we all to be experts in game animals and what affects their conduct?"
This clause places Indiana's law at the extreme when compared to most other hunter harassment statutes around the country, according to the appeal. If allowed to stand, the law will chill the expression of free speech.
A jury found the Shugers guilty in July of two counts each of hunter harassment for interfering with a town-sanctioned deer kill in 2001. Frederick Shuger was also found guilty of a third and more serious offense of intimidation. * * *
Morsch said there was no evidence the Shugers disturbed a game animal when they honked their car horn, took photographs and allowed their dog to bark while driving along a public roadway. Their intent was to express concern over the safety of hunting in the residential community.
"The statute improperly regulates speech in a public forum without offering a reasonable alternative means for those with anti-hunting views to publicly express their opinions to hunters," according to the appeal.
Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Andrew Bennett said at the time that the hunter harassment law, which prohibits interfering with the legal killing of a game animal, does not hamper anyone's rights to free speech. The Shugers had plenty of opportunity to voice their opinion before the hunt, he said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 2, 2006 07:49 AM
Posted to Environment | Ind. App.Ct. Decisions | Indiana Law