Hunter harassment bill clears Senate
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1993:
A last-minute deal between
Senate Judiciary Committee chair Joe
Biden (D-Del.) and senior minority mem-
ber Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) inserted a fed-
eral hunter harassment statute into the
anti-crime bill passed by the Senate, 95-
4, in mid-November. The amendment
states it is illegal for a person to
“obstruct, impede or otherwise interfere”
with hunting on federal land. It was nei-
ther mentioned nor voted upon during the
anti-crime bill debate, apparently pass-
ing unnoticed.
According to American Civil
Liberties Union legislative counsel
Robert Peck, the amendment should be
ruled unconstitutional because it bans
peaceful anti-hunting protest on federal
land; affects only those opposed to hunt-
ing; is dangerously vague in failing to
define the term “interfere”; and permits
prior restraint by allowing hunters to
obtain injunctions against protests before
they actually occur. It can still be
repealed by the Senate/House conference
committee assigned to reconcile differ-
ences in the different versions of the anti-
crime package before it comes to a final
vote.
