Supreme Court to hear hunting video case

August 25, 11:30 PM Baltimore Hunting and Fishing Examiner John Van Ness

On October the sixth the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the United States vs. Stevens case. The outcome of this case has the potential to affect every form of hunting video sold or broadcasted in the United States. Depending on how the court rules, hunting television shows, DVD’s and even personal pictures of hunting trips on the Internet could fall under a federal statute that was intended to prevent the trafficking of media depicting animal cruelty. A portion of the video content in this case involves catch dogs trained to hold a wild boar while hunting. The court will have to decide if this is a form of animal cruelty and if this law is constitutional. What is disturbing is how the language of the original law could create a precedent that includes hunting as a form of animal cruelty and therefore interstate commerce of media depicting hunting would be illegal. Further than that, the long term implications of a Supreme Court ruling that hunting falls into this category could open a floodgate of state and local lawsuits from animal rights groups attempting to ban hunting. Though it is far outside the realm of this case and the original law, it is a safe bet that the groups dedicated to ending hunting and all animal use are salivating at the thought of using a Supreme Court ruling to file injunctions against hunting seasons.

Robert Steven’s videos do include dog fighting scenes and other unsavory images. He also advertised his video wares in “Sporting Dog Journal”, a magazine devoted to illegal dog fighting. That some of the content depicts scenes that do fall under the statute of animal cruelty is not in dispute. This is not a court case about animal cruelty or hunting but rather is about what constitutes speech protected under the First Amendment. There are limits to the Bill of Rights; unprotected speech is something like child pornography. Everyone can agree that that kind of media is undoubtedly harmful to individuals and society. The original intent of this particular law was to outlaw distribution of pornography that involved cruelty to animals, a noble purpose. However, the first application of this law happened to be this case and unfortunately it has ramifications that go well beyond the intent of the original law.  Click Link Below For Full Story!

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