In the 1970s, animal-rights activists began a campaign of hunter harassment: physically harassing hunters, blocking access to hunting areas, following hunters into the woods, etc. The Sportsmen’s Alliance drafted a model anti-harassment statute and by 1995 had persuaded all 50 states and the federal government to adopt laws barring this activist harassment.
The response was predictable: a welter of lawsuits claiming that the anti-harassment acts were unconstitutional and violations of free speech rights. The Sportsmen’s Alliance intervened in a multitude of these suits and fought hard to uphold the validity of the laws. After a few important early victories, the legal precedents were set and challenges to the laws withered away. The important antiharassment statutes remain on the books and are recognized as valid and binding throughout our court systems.
New Jersey Hunter Harassment
The Rutgers Animal Rights Law Center in New Jersey was representing anti-hunting activists in a challenge to New Jersey’s hunter harassment law. It had previously challenged state-authorized hunts in New Jersey and elsewhere. The center lost its challenge to the hunter harassment statute at the trial-court level, and the Sportsmen’s Alliance got involved in the appeals process, assisting the New Jersey Attorney General’s office in defending the statute. The statute was ultimately upheld.
Importantly, our work played a key part in closing the doors of this law center that was inappropriately using public funds (because Rutgers is a publicly funded university) and using Rutgers’ name for private purposes in expressing radical anti-hunting and pro animal-rights views.
Help Us Fight for You
Your tax-deductible donation to the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund directly supports our legal fights in courtrooms nationwide. The Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund was established to represent sportsmen in lawsuits that affect your ability to hunt, fish, trap and own firearms. Its funding ensures the sportsman’s voice is heard above the rhetoric of anti-hunting groups.
Join the fight for your hunting and fishing future by donating to the Sportsmen’s Legal Defense Fund today!
