Re: [Paddlewise] "hunting"

At 04:45 PM 7/30/98 -0400, you wrote:


>If a law exists and authorities choose to enforce it, you will get
arrested, this
>does not imply anything about the constitutionality of the law.
>
	I think you're getting confused about what "constitutional authority" is
all about. This has nothing to do with Platonic ideals of "Truth" or
"Justice." 

	Simply stated, in Article X of the Bill of Rights, "The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to
the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." 

	Article IX of the Bill of Rights states, "The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people."

	Specifically, the right of the State to control, regulate, restrict,
permit, license, limit, and qualify the regulation of fish and game
management is afforded the State through the regulatory authority of the
Federal Government. The "Constitutional issue" here is: Does the Federal
Government have the regulatory authority to grant State agencies the right
to manage hunting and fishing through agencies such as the Washington State
Dept. of Fish & Wildlife. It has, and it does. It has the authority, and
the Federal Govt. authorized the State to approve the hunt. 

	Does the State have the constitutional authority to limit harassment of
the hunters engaged in a hunt? It has and it does. It's unlawful in
Washington to harass ANY hunter engaged in a hunt. This includes chasing
deer, flushing game birds, standing between the hunter and the game, or
tracking a fishing vessel with the intent (overt or covert) to interfere
with its lawful taking of game. 

	A "Constitutional Issue" would be something on the order of state
authority to regulate logging in a National Park when that park resides in
the state in question. 

	But enough of this. Have you noticed that the water is warm enough to swim
in without a wet suit? 

______________________________
George Bergeron, Secretary '99
Oswego Heritage Council
http://www.europa.com/~heritage/
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