Private land is a sanctuary for millions of Americans—a haven from the hustle and bustle of daily life and a place we can make and call our own. And Tom Manuel knows that better than most. As a forester by trade, Tom has made his living managing, cultivating, and protecting his clients’ lands throughout Louisiana.

Tom’s own sanctuary is a large parcel of timberland near his home in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. He and his wife bought the property in 2003 to grow timber, spend time in nature with their children, and hunt. Tom’s experience and passion for forestry and wildlife has allowed him to manage the land sustainably for more than 20 years. Tom values privacy on his land; he’s clearly marked the boundaries of his property, locks the gates, and has a “no trespassing” sign at the entrance.

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But late last year, Tom found out that Louisiana doesn’t think much of his privacy. Exploiting a Prohibition-era U.S. Supreme Court rule called the “open fields doctrine,” game wardens with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries believe they have the right to enter and look around Tom’s property whenever they please—all without Tom’s permission, a warrant, or any suspicion of a crime.

Game wardens entered Tom’s land twice last December, each time entering without a warrant and leaving without issuing a citation. Both times Tom calmly made his position clear: The wardens didn’t have his permission to be on his land, and they didn’t have any legal right to be there. This didn’t faze the wardens—as they told Tom, the state trains them to walk through people’s gates and right onto private property, no permission or warrant needed.

But Tom knows his rights. Although the open fields doctrine has stripped down the U.S. Constitution’s protections for private land, Louisiana’s own constitution is different: It protects all property from unreasonable searches and invasions of privacy. 

Land is property. That’s why Tom teamed up with IJ to sue the department in state court and establish clear precedent: If wardens want to enter Tom’s land, the Louisiana Constitution says they need a warrant to do so.

This problem isn’t limited to Tom or to Louisiana. Around the country, game wardens and other law enforcement routinely trespass on private land without a warrant to fish for crimes and hunt for evidence. IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment aims to stop these warrantless intrusions on private land. Along with Tom’s case, we’ve filed lawsuits fighting warrantless searches of open fields under the Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Virginia Constitutions.

Several states have already rejected the open fields doctrine. These include Mississippi, just 20 minutes up the road from Tom’s land. Game wardens there, for instance, can enforce hunting laws while still respecting private property. That goes for other officials, too. And as more states reject the open fields doctrine, IJ hopes to eventually persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to abandon the misguided doctrine as well. But whether in federal or state court, IJ will continue to fight to protect Americans’ private land from warrantless searches by all agents and officers.

James T. Knight II is an IJ attorney.