Court Challenge to Anti-Poaching Law
Several legislative sessions ago, the MBA was instrumental in getting the anti-poaching law passed. It provides for restitution values for illegally taken wildlife and sets the threshold for a felony unlawful possession of game animals. This law is critical to protecting our wildlife resources and providing due process and restitution in poaching cases.
Recently, the 22nd District court in Billings upheld a challenge to the constitutionality of the trophy poaching restitution law. The challenge was filed in State v. James Ike Rainey, State v. Mark Gary Morse, and State v. Lenard Lee Powell which are separate cases
involving related defendants in poaching incidences. On October 5, 2010, the Defendants in the above case, James Ike Rainey, Mark Gary Morse, and Lenard Lee Powell were charged in the district court of Big Horn County, Montana, with offenses including unlawful possession of a game animal, a felony, as specified in Mont. Code Ann. § 87-3-111 (2009). The charging documents describe various illegal hunting practices and the possession of unlawfully-taken deer and elk. In July, August, and September 2011, the Defendants fi led pleadings requesting that the court declare Mont. Code Ann. §§ 87-1-111, 87-1-115, and 87-3-111(5) unconstitutional. FWP has filed an application with the Montana Supreme Court, asking for a stay of proceedings and a request to override the lower court’s decision. FWP has called upon MBA and other sportsmen’s groups to file an amicus curiae to support their actions. According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William H. Rehnquist, amicus curiae is “a phrase that literally means “friend of the court” — someone who is not a party to the litigation, but who believes that the court’s decision may affect its interest.” It is certainly within the interest of all sportsmen in Montana to defend the right of the State to protect our wildlife resources, and to penalize those who violate wildlife laws. The MBA will support FWP however possible in urging the Supreme Court to review the ruling issued by the district court. It is extremely important that we get this case overturned lest we have no recourse in future poaching cases. We must ensure that our interests are protected, not those of rich poachers who can buy themselves good lawyers to wrongly influence the courts.
© Bruce MacQueen / photoXpress
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