Fish and Game officers in New Hampshire are free to perform a wide range of warrant-less searches. Almost nothing you own is protected from a search if they invoke probable cause. That means “because they feel like it.”
House Bill 282 sought to limit that abuse. But 98% of elected NH House Democrats are comfortable with Fish and Game officers performing searches without a warrant. They voted to kill the reform. You can find the complete roll call vote here. (A yea vote was to allow warrant-less searches to continue.)
In my town of Merrimack, all four (100% of) Democrats voted to allow these warrant-less searches to continue. Protecting the nearly limitless abuse of probable cause authority to search and seize property from Granite Staters (or tourists) without the need to obtain a warrant.
86% of all House Republicans supported reining in the abuse, with two Merrimack Republicans, Richard Barry and Bob L’Heureux voting like Democrats.
Keep Warrant-less searches
Murphy, Nancy (D, Merrimack)
Rung, Rosemarie (D, Merrimack)
Stack, Kathryn (D, Merrimack)
Thomas, Wendy (D, Merrimack)
L’Heureux, Robert (R, Merrimack)
Barry, Richard (R, Merrimack)
End Warrant-less searches
Hinch, Richard (R, Merrimack)
Notter, Jeanine (R, Merrimack)
Merrimack voters need to take notes. A legislature that would give unrestricted search and seizure authority to one division of government enforcement is a short step away from granting that power to others.
You have rights. If your representatives don’t protect them, you should seriously consider new representation.
