ACLU of West Virginia Challenge to Sunday Hunting Prohibition to be Heard in Court on Wednesday
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 3, 2005
Contact: Andrew Schneider,
(304) 345-9246
HARRISVILLE, WV--The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia will ask a Ritchie County circuit court judge this Wednesday to permanently block the county commission from enforcing a ban against Sunday hunting on private lands. The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 5th at the county courthouse located on 115 East Main Street in Harrisville.
The ACLU's lawsuit, Hartley Hill Hunt Club et al. v. Ritchie County Commission, was filed on behalf of the Hartley Hill Hunt Club and three of its members. The private hunt club leases 2034 acres of property in Ritchie County.
"The Ritchie County law not only infringes on basic state constitutional rights but also violates the spirit of West Virginia liberty," said Andrew Schneider, Executive Director of the ACLU of West Virginia. "Our state motto may say 'mountaineers are always free' but in Ritchie County they are only free Monday through Saturday."
According to the ACLU lawsuit, depriving individuals of their desired use of their property for one full day out of the week, throughout all hunting seasons, runs afoul of Article III section 22 of the state constitution which provides for the right to bear arms for the purposes of "lawful hunting and recreational use."
ACLU attorneys also point out that Article III section 1 of the state constitution guarantees certain inherent rights that cannot be taken away, such as "the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."
The lawsuit also asserts that during the 2002 election voters in Ritchie County approved the prohibition against Sunday hunting, in part because of the vague and ambiguous language of the ballot measure.
"Our clients will establish that the Sunday hunting prohibition is an unconstitutional restriction on their well-recognized cultural, historical and constitutionally protected right to the use and enjoyment of their property through hunting," said Jason Huber, a cooperating attorney with the ACLU of West Virginia.
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