His Land Was His Sanctuary – Until Government Agents Showed Up With Hidden Cameras and No Warrant

What happens when government agents can stroll around on your property without a warrant? Hunter Hollingsworth found out in 2016.

Hollingsworth’s family has owned land along the Big Sandy River in Tennessee for years. It is a place where he enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping.

But one day, his peace was disrupted when he discovered that he had some unwelcome visitors: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers. He found out about his new guests when he discovered a hidden surveillance camera near the only entrance to his property. “Where the camera was set up, it was on the only entrance to the property… they were surveilling my comings and goings, to know when I was there and when I wasn’t,” he told Townhall.

At first, Hollingsworth did not know who had placed the camera on his property. So, he removed it and took it home with him. After watching the footage on the device, he found out that game wardens had been walking around on his property without a warrant.

Then, the raid happened.

About 10 to 12 armed officers stormed his home, ransacked his belongings, and treated him like a mafia kingpin.“I was actually expecting company that day… Well, I looked and saw it was officers. I didn’t know how many there was,” Hollingsworth recalled. “I just saw two or three on the porch. And I told them to go away. I didn’t want to talk to them. And they said, ‘Open the door. We got a warrant, or we’ll kick it down.’”

After calling his attorney, Hollingsworth gave them the camera.

The authorities charged him for stealing government property and violations related to using bait to hunt. The TWRA also falsely claimed he had been hunting on days he was not even on the property, he said. “They charged me with that and the theft of the camera. And hunting over bait is typically, I think, a $200, $250 fine… When I went to court, my fines they were starting out with were over $100,000 and three years in prison,” he recounted.

His lawyer pushed him to accept a plea deal instead of fighting the case. Despite maintaining his innocence, he pleaded guilty to hunting doves using bait. In exchange, the prosecution dropped the charges for “stealing” the camera. They also suspended his hunting license for three years.

But that was not the end of the story.

Now, Hollingsworth, with the help of the Institute for Justice, is suing.

You might be asking: How are law enforcement officers able to walk onto someone’s property without securing a warrant?  The answer lies in the Open Fields doctrine, which was established in a court ruling on Hester v. United States in 1924.

The case centered on an incident in which federal agents hopped a fence to chase down moonshiners on their property. They arrested the individuals and seized their contraband — all without a warrant. In an infamous moment, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that “the special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment…is not extended to the open fields.”

This ruling essentially stated that the Constitution does not require the government to furnish a warrant to invade private property outside of a home. This means agents can patrol on acres of land without going through the proper procedures. Indeed, the ruling left 96 percent of private land in the US — about 1.2 billion acres — vulnerable to warrantless government intrusion.

However, despite the existence of the Open Fields doctrine, some states have passed laws prohibiting state officers from entering private property without a warrant.

Hollinsworth is one of many Americans who have fallen victim to these practices. Before the camera incident, there were several others where game wardens harassed him and his friends. In one instance, he told one of the officers that he did not invite them onto his property. “When you bought your hunting license, you invited me,” the officer shot back.

Hollingsworth bristled. “They could go on any property anytime they wanted to and just roam around at will for as long as they wanted,” he said. “They didn’t have to tell anybody what they were doing. It was unchecked authority.”

Attorney Suranjen Sen of the Institute for Justice is handling similar cases in Alabama and other states.“Wardens patrol private land as if it were public, akin to beat cops walking city streets,” he told Townhall. “Under current interpretation, private land beyond the curtilage has no Fourth Amendment protection. Officers can trespass, patrol, and even install cameras without warrants or probable cause.”

Joshua Windham, who is representing Hollingsworth, explained that “State game wardens treat private land like a highway patrol beat—roaming around looking for violations without supervision, probable cause, or judicial oversight.”

However, this story actually has a happy ending, of sorts.

The Institute for Justice represented Hollingsworth and another plaintiff named Terry Rainwaters in appealing a lower court’s ruling. The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that warrantless searches of private land violated the state constitution’s protections for “possessions,” which includes land. The state decided against appealing the ruling, which means it is final.

“The Tennessee decision restores accountability. It’s a blueprint for other states,” Windham said.

The organization is challenging similar statutes in Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and several other states.“Our clients—Regina Williams, Dalton Boley, and Dale Liles—have endured repeated invasions,” Sen said. “One officer even tampered with a client’s trail camera. Land is a possession, and the Alabama Constitution demands more protection.”

What happens when government agents can stroll around on your property without a warrant? Hunter Hollingsworth found out in 2016.

Hollingsworth’s family has owned land along the Big Sandy River in Tennessee for years. It is a place where he enjoys hunting, fishing, and camping.

But one day, his peace was disrupted when he discovered that he had some unwelcome visitors: Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) officers. He found out about his new guests when he discovered a hidden surveillance camera near the only entrance to his property. “Where the camera was set up, it was on the only entrance to the property… they were surveilling my comings and goings, to know when I was there and when I wasn’t,” he told Townhall.

At first, Hollingsworth did not know who had placed the camera on his property. So, he removed it and took it home with him. After watching the footage on the device, he found out that game wardens had been walking around on his property without a warrant.

Then, the raid happened.

About 10 to 12 armed officers stormed his home, ransacked his belongings, and treated him like a mafia kingpin.“I was actually expecting company that day… Well, I looked and saw it was officers. I didn’t know how many there was,” Hollingsworth recalled. “I just saw two or three on the porch. And I told them to go away. I didn’t want to talk to them. And they said, ‘Open the door. We got a warrant, or we’ll kick it down.’”

After calling his attorney, Hollingsworth gave them the camera.

The authorities charged him for stealing government property and violations related to using bait to hunt. The TWRA also falsely claimed he had been hunting on days he was not even on the property, he said. “They charged me with that and the theft of the camera. And hunting over bait is typically, I think, a $200, $250 fine… When I went to court, my fines they were starting out with were over $100,000 and three years in prison,” he recounted.

His lawyer pushed him to accept a plea deal instead of fighting the case. Despite maintaining his innocence, he pleaded guilty to hunting doves using bait. In exchange, the prosecution dropped the charges for “stealing” the camera. They also suspended his hunting license for three years.

But that was not the end of the story.

Now, Hollingsworth, with the help of the Institute for Justice, is suing.

You might be asking: How are law enforcement officers able to walk onto someone’s property without securing a warrant?  The answer lies in the Open Fields doctrine, which was established in a court ruling on Hester v. United States in 1924.

The case centered on an incident in which federal agents hopped a fence to chase down moonshiners on their property. They arrested the individuals and seized their contraband — all without a warrant. In an infamous moment, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that “the special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment…is not extended to the open fields.”

This ruling essentially stated that the Constitution does not require the government to furnish a warrant to invade private property outside of a home. This means agents can patrol on acres of land without going through the proper procedures. Indeed, the ruling left 96 percent of private land in the US — about 1.2 billion acres — vulnerable to warrantless government intrusion.

However, despite the existence of the Open Fields doctrine, some states have passed laws prohibiting state officers from entering private property without a warrant.

Hollinsworth is one of many Americans who have fallen victim to these practices. Before the camera incident, there were several others where game wardens harassed him and his friends. In one instance, he told one of the officers that he did not invite them onto his property. “When you bought your hunting license, you invited me,” the officer shot back.

Hollingsworth bristled. “They could go on any property anytime they wanted to and just roam around at will for as long as they wanted,” he said. “They didn’t have to tell anybody what they were doing. It was unchecked authority.”

Attorney Suranjen Sen of the Institute for Justice is handling similar cases in Alabama and other states.“Wardens patrol private land as if it were public, akin to beat cops walking city streets,” he told Townhall. “Under current interpretation, private land beyond the curtilage has no Fourth Amendment protection. Officers can trespass, patrol, and even install cameras without warrants or probable cause.”

Joshua Windham, who is representing Hollingsworth, explained that “State game wardens treat private land like a highway patrol beat—roaming around looking for violations without supervision, probable cause, or judicial oversight.”

However, this story actually has a happy ending, of sorts.

The Institute for Justice represented Hollingsworth and another plaintiff named Terry Rainwaters in appealing a lower court’s ruling. The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that warrantless searches of private land violated the state constitution’s protections for “possessions,” which includes land. The state decided against appealing the ruling, which means it is final.

“The Tennessee decision restores accountability. It’s a blueprint for other states,” Windham said.

The organization is challenging similar statutes in Alabama, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and several other states.“Our clients—Regina Williams, Dalton Boley, and Dale Liles—have endured repeated invasions,” Sen said. “One officer even tampered with a client’s trail camera. Land is a possession, and the Alabama Constitution demands more protection.”