How much clearer do you send a message to the governor than to override his veto in both houses with unanimous votes? Such was the case in Maine as the Legislature by votes of 33-0 in the Senate and 148-0 in the House overrode Governor LePage’s veto of bill LD 1816.
If you recall I recently made comments on two bills that the governor signed his veto to – LD 1816 and LD 1823.
LD 1816 was more of a discriminatory bill than anti-hunting. This issue stems from making laws to stop illegal baiting of deer for hunting purposes. The initial passage of a bill aimed at addressing this concern came last year when the Legislature passed LD 1083. In that bill, the punishment for a second offense of hunting over bait required a lifetime loss of hunting privileges. Some, like Sen. Davis, believed that punishment to be beyond the scope of the severity of the crime and wished to amend that bill to make a second-offense punish a two-year license loss. LD 1816 passed both houses but the governor vetoed it. The vote to override was unanimous.
In my comments about LePage’s veto I wrote: “Until such time as Maine can get their act together to better lay out the exact definition of “bait” and at the same time rid the conflicts between growing “crops” and hunting over those and hunting over bait placed by a hunter – as though growing a crop to hunt over is any different than dumping a bag of apples under a tree stand – I cannot agree with LePage’s veto of this bill.”
Senator Paul Davis was quoted in the Piscataquis Observer that: “The fact of the matter is, deer baiting laws only really apply to hunters who don’t have the economic means to purchase land and manage for crops that attract deer. It is perfectly legal to hunt over a crop, yet it is illegal to hunt deer over a pile of apples. This discrepancy in Maine law treats some hunters differently than others, and I don’t believe that it is fair. That’s why I feel strongly that this crime shouldn’t carry a more severe penalty than other crimes that are much worse, such as hunting game out of season or illegal night hunting.”
Now perhaps it is time for some Maine politician(s) to do the right thing and step forward to change the recent law (LD 557) passed that wrongly punishes hunters more than all others for the same crime. Unconstitutional Animus, or a serious violation of equal protection under the law, does not permit a more severe punish against one group over another. Last June (2017) I wrote: “I believe the term that might apply to such an egregious violation of due process, can be found in Supreme Court cases that involve “unconstitutional animus.” If you Google that term, you can spend hours reading about what this term is and how it affects all of us. In brief, unconstitutional animus is a violation of equal protection under the law. In this case, a hunter or fisherman is not afforded the same due process and equal protection as someone else who might commit the same crime.”
The Maine legislature has righted one wrong in bringing the punishment for hunting over bait back to something more sensible. They still need to clear up the contradictions and definitions between hunting over a crop and hunting over a bait pile.
Now if they can straighten out this ridiculous discriminatory law that targets hunters for greater punishment than all other groups, things would be better off.
Bill would allow Maine Amish hunters to wear red instead of orange
*Editor’s Note* – Let’s forget about the “religious” aspect of the whats and whys of the Amish request to be exempt from wearing blaze orange when they hunt. That is a day-long debate with no end in sight. Consider what we have been told when the government forced hunters to wear blaze orange. And now consider what we are being told in regard to why a proposed exemption for the Amish bill should be passed.
The idea of blaze orange, we were told and everyone believes, was to be “safely” spotted by other hunters in the woods during deer season. It wasn’t just good enough that hunters HAD to wear an article of bright orange, it had to meet certain luminous minimum standards and cover head and a major portion of the torso. In addition to this forced requirement on the people, the law was changed that basically said a hunter was 100% responsible for any decision to pull the trigger and what happens to the bullet once it leaves the breech.
If all of this government intrusion is so important to the safety of everyone, why then should there be any exemption from participating in a government-mandated program?
If we look at the article, linked to below, read what lawmakers and others are telling us now about how there shouldn’t be any concern if Amish hunters hit the woods in red instead of hunter orange.
1. The Amish faith prohibits the use of bright colors
2. Amish hunters are forced to use the bright, fluorescent hunter orange to comply with safety regulations
3. the requirement to wear orange clearly conflicts with the Amish’s religious beliefs.
4. We should all be free to stick to our religious convictions
5. They just want to have the same opportunities as other hunters in Maine. (They do already.)
6. remedy the situation in the Legislature “while at the same time maintaining high hunting safety standards in Maine.”
7. The senate president said he did not believe safety would be an issue.(emboldening added).
8. “With all of the current laws and the hunter safety classes, we are past the time when people just point a gun at anything that moves and shoot it,”(emboldening added).
If the Maine Senate president and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee’s “some concern for safety,” are right, then why is there a requirement by the government to make anybody wear hunter orange? This makes no sense at all.
One might even ask if a “religion” prohibits wearing bright colors but allows for killing wild animals, what kind of “religion” is that? In addition, it would seem to me that if hunting is so important to certain members of the Amish faith, then the Amish “religion” needs to draw up their own exemptions to laws. Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to ask of another something they are not willing to do?
If the Maine Legislature agrees to pass legislation exempting the Amish from wearing hunter orange, then one of two things, or both should also happen: 1. Wearing of blaze orange should become optional for everyone, and 2. Hunters who might accidentally shoot an Amish hunter, not wearing orange, will not be held responsible for “accidentally” shooting someone.
Mind you these suggestions are based on what we have been told about hunter safety, the effects of being forced to wear hunter orange clothing and what we are being told now about safety should not be an issue if the Amish don’t wear orange. Evidently we have moved beyond that requirement.
Hunting is a privilege and is deeply ingrained into the fabric of Maine’s heritage. Everyone, of legal status, has the right to purchase a license and hunt…legally, and all participants must abide by the laws that regulate hunting…this includes the wearing of blaze orange. A person chooses their religion. If providing an exemption to the Amish to not wear bright colors is good enough for the Amish, then it should be good enough for everybody.
I suggest that if the Amish provide their own exemptions to allow their followers to hunt.
Source: Bill would allow Maine Amish hunters to wear red instead of orange — Politics — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine