The oath that our state legislators swear by when taking office is brief yet powerful.
It is only one sentence, and it requires legislators to “support, obey and defend” the U.S. and state constitutions.
So why have 129 of our state Representatives and 33 Senators voted in favor of a bill that opposes, violates and subverts the Constitution?
Two reasons: Either they don’t care, or they’ve been sold a bill of goods.
The legislation in question will lift the prohibition on Sunday hunting. It should’ve never made it to the floor for a vote.
Why?
The legislation includes language that increases trespassing penalties but grants an exemption to any unarmed individual who enters private property for the purpose of retrieving a hunting dog.
Think about that.
This is our government mandating to private property owners who they have to allow onto their land. It is a clear violation of private property rights, which are protected by the Constitution. But, when the bill was passed by both chambers, it turns out that a total of 162 legislators - the people we elected to uphold the Constitution - willingly turned their backs on America's founding document.
The government telling us who we have to allow entry onto our property is nothing more than state-sanctioned trespassing, and all of us — especially farmers — should be very concerned.
Farmers are one of the largest groups of private property owners in Pennsylvania. Controlling who can, and cannot, enter your property is a fundamental right.
For that reason, I find it ironic, and egregious, that the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (of which I’m a member) supported the Sunday hunting legislation even though it violates the private property rights of its members.
Private property rights are protected in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution. As a property owner, it is your decision who to allow entry onto your land. It is not a decision for the government to make for you.
In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid affirmed that the government cannot mandate who property owners must allow on their property, as stipulated by the Constitution.
So why is it happening now in Pennsylvania?
It started in 2019 when a bill was passed to allow hunting on three Sundays.
In that bill, which Farm Bureau didn’t oppose but took a neutral position on, trespassing penalties were increased and the dog retrieval exemption was created.
It was a mistake.
When the current Sunday bill was originally introduced, it included language that correctly removed the trespassing exemption for dog retrieval.
However, lobbying pressure from several groups, including the Ohio-based Sportsmen’s Alliance, pushed to have the exemption restored, and it was.
And in a move that goes against its own policy, Farm Bureau leadership still expressed its support for the legislation.
Do you support Sunday hunting?
July 6, 2024
According to Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s 2024 Policy Book, under “General Trespass,” the organization is in favor of landowner permission being required prior to entrance onto private property.
And under “Hunting and Fishing Rights,” Farm Bureau supports the rights of property owners to limit hunting, fishing and all other activities on their lands.
And at the national level, the American Farm Bureau Federation has a policy that states, “Any action by government that diminishes an owner’s right to use his property constitutes a taking of that owner’s property.”
I think a government mandate allowing a certain group to enter private property certainly diminishes an owner’s right to use that property.
Since legislators are willing to pass a bill that violates the Constitution, and the Farm Bureau has now ignored its own policies and didn't defend the property rights of its members, where are we headed?
Granted, the state Farm Bureau has achieved a lot of good things for its members, but supporting the Sunday hunting bill isn’t one of them.
The dog retrieval issue has been contentious, and I’ve heard from farmers across the state who aren’t happy with this outlandish violation of their property rights.
There has been an effort to spin the controversial provision with claims that amendments to the bill “narrow” the dog retrieval exemption by requiring hunters to attempt to contact landowners before entering if a property if fenced or marked as an ag biosecure area.
But what about those properties that aren’t fenced or marked? And let’s not forget that “attempt to contact” a landowner before entering private property isn’t the same as obtaining permission.
The fact that the bill exempts dog retrieval from trespassing penalties is clearly a selective application of the law.
When everyone else who trespasses is subject to penalty — except those retrieving a hunting dog — that’s selective.
And contrary to ridiculous claims that the bill strengthens the rights of property owners, the reality is it takes them away.
The government has no standing to mandate to private property owners who they must allow onto their property.
As defined in the Constitution and upheld by the Supreme Court, such a requirement constitutes eminent domain and would require property owners to be compensated for the loss of one of their fundamental rights (the right of exclusion).
Any attempt to undermine the Constitution, which is exactly what happened with the passage of the Sunday bill, is indefensible.
Those legislators who voted in favor of the Sunday hunting bill ignored their oath, defied the Constitution, disobeyed a Supreme Court decision and violated the rights of every landowner in Pennsylvania.
And those groups that supported such an egregious act should be ashamed.
