| Show WITHOUT A WARRANT GAME WARDENS ARE overstepping RIGHTS OF CITIZENS prominent ogden attorney protests against the disregard of constitutional rights editor standard lately I 1 have been repeatedly asked as to the authority of the game wardens of this state to arrest or search any person and their effects without a warrant as provided by the game laws as enacted by the last legislature after a careful investigation I 1 give it as my opinion that section 6 ot said game laws whereby it endeavors to confer such authority Is absolutely unconstitutional tut ional our legislature has no such power and in trying to assume such is acting in direct opposition to our constitution and the constitution of the united states section 14 of the constitution of the state of utah reads as follows unreasonable searches tor issuance of a wan ant the right of the people to be secure in their persons houses papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures not be violated and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation fir mation particularly describing the place to be searched or the thing to be seized almost all the states of the union have a similar constitutional provision but as I 1 do not wish to take up much space in your valuable paper n discussing this question I 1 will merely quote a part of an opinion from the supreme court of the state of michigan in passing on a case involving this particular question and in which the following expressive language is used under our system we have repeatedly decided in accordance with constitutional principles as construed everywhere that no arrest can be made aitho it a warrant except in case of felony or in breaches of the peace committed in the presence of the officer this exception in cases of breaches of the peace has only been allowed by reason of the immediate danger to the safety of the community against crimes of violence and it is confined even in such cases to instances when the violence was committed in the presence of the officer there are not many such cases the common and statute laws provide for deiy few specified breaches of the peace and there are none not specified an indictment charging a person as a pence breaker and not with any specified crime would be good tor nothing the manifest purpose of this statute is to bring certain things that are preaches of the peace within that denomination in order to avoid the issuing of a warrant but as already said the constitution ution cannot thus be evaded in conclusion I 1 ish to state that various supreme courts that have been called upon to pass upon this particular question have invariably declared such acts of the legislature unconstitutional and that such officer and his bondsmen are liable in damages to any person whose constitutional rights are thus violated signed T R |
