(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania law gives waterways conservation officers “unrestrained authority” to search private properties in violation of the U.S. Constitution, according to a new lawsuit filed Monday.
Tim Thomas, who lives in a cabin along Butler Lake in Susquehanna County, alleged in federal court that the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission entered his yard unpermitted multiple times in 2023 over supposed fishing violations that were later dismissed in court.
The victories ring hollow for Thomas, however, who said that without changes to state law, nothing will prevent the incidents from happening again. Nor will the peace he and his wife sought when they first bought the remote property in 2014 be restored.
“What the officer did to the Thomases was both intrusive and unconstitutional,” said John Wrench, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, the nonprofit and public interest law firm representing the case, in a news release emailed to The Center Square. “You don’t lose your constitutional rights simply because you happen to live near a lake. That’s why we’re challenging the Pennsylvania statute that authorizes these outrageous warrantless searches.”