Two Clearfield County Hunting Clubs File Suit Against PA Game Commission Over Surveillance

CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa — Two hunting clubs in Clearfield County, the Punxsutawney Hunting Club and the Pitch Pine Hunting Club, have hired representation and filed suit against the Pennsylvania Game Commission after finding the commission used cameras on their private properties without a warrant.

While that may seem like a violation of the Fourth Amendment, the Open Fields Doctrine currently allows authorities access to any open fields without a warrant, or even probable cause.

The Punxsutawney Hunting Club and their attorneys say the goal of this lawsuit is to challenge the acceptance of the Open Fields Doctrine in Pennsylvania.

The Open Fields Doctrine originated nearly a hundred years ago, and the attorney representing the clubs, Josh Windham, says it’s outdated.

“The government couldn’t put a camera on your property, right?," Windham asked rhetorically. "They would’ve had to do something like put a tent up, and camp out there for multiple days to get the same effect, and surely, the U.S. Supreme Court wouldn’t have thought that was okay back in the day.”

While the Game Commission didn’t break existing laws, Windham says they crossed a line.

"A game warden did put a camera in one of their trees without a warrant, without consent and conducted...many weeks of surveillance, and got hundreds of photos of not only the club itself but members and cars driving by, which is incredibly intrusive,” he said.

After this experience, the President of the Punxsutawney Hunting Club, Frank Stockdale, says this doctrine needs to go.

“We as citizens believe that you have privacy unless there is a reason for a search or a judge gives somebody a warrant to do a search, so I think that doctrine goes against what we believe as citizens of this country,” he stated.

And those surveilled weren’t happy.

“They were very startled and upset that they were recorded without their knowledge in the middle of our property,” Stockdale recalled.

Which Windham says fuels this group’s motive.

“Our perspective is that doctrine is legally and historically incorrect."

The Game Commission declined to comment and deferred to the Attorney General’s office, which has not responded to comment as of Friday evening.

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