RITCHIE HUNTER'S ENLIST ACLU TO CHANGE SUNDAY HUNTING

(10/05/2005)

Ritchie County hunters are disputing a ban on Sunday hunting, after it was passed by voters in the 2000 election. The Hartley Hill Hunt Club, which leases more than 2,000 acres in Ritchie, are claiming constitutional issues, also saying the wording on the ballot was vague and ambiguous. They have enlisted the ACLU of West Virginia. A hearing has been re-scheduled for Friday, October 7th at 11:00 a.m. "Our clients will establish that the Sunday hunting prohibition is an unconstitutional restriction on their well-recognized cultural, historical and constitutionally protected right to the use and enjoyment of their property through hunting," said Jason Huber, an attorney for the ACLU. County Commissioner Stephen Worden said "We put it on the ballot. We put the issue in front of the voters. It was approved not to hunt on Sundays." The ACLU lawsuit says depriving individuals of their desired use of their property for one full day out of the week throughout all hunting seasons runs afoul of Article III Section 22 of the state constitution, which provides for the right to bear arms for the purposes of lawful hunting and recreational use. The suits says "The law not only infringes on basic state constitutional rights, but also violates the spirit of West Virginia liberty," said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU in West Virginia.

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