New Laws This Week, Part 1.
There really is not a lot going on right now. The Supreme Court is not in session; neither the Court of Appeals. The Legislature is gone for a while yet. Even the cities have been slow lately (except Mayor Frank, but I am intentionally avoiding that topic). So I thought I’d run down a few laws and changes that went into effect this week.
Miss. Code Ann. 49-7-51 has been amended to specifically prohibit selling mounted game animals. I kind of thought this was covered by the no parts of the animals clause, but the legislature thought it necessary to specify. This is only curious to me because I actually had a discussion about this exact topic a week ago.
Beginning July 1, Boat registrations in Mississippi are now good for 3 years instead of 2. Not sure who this helps.
Mississippi’s sex offender registration law was updated. It increases the amount and type of information the registrant must provide. It also added prohibitions regarding living near schools. This kind of relates to Brian’s earlier topic.
Beginning this week judges and prosecutors can request an untraceable license plate for their cars. (I have no idea what purpose this can serve… maybe someone can enlighten me).
And 1 more: Beginning this week a whole series of offenses related to obstruction of justice go into effect. These include bribing witnesses, bribing jurors, intimidating jurors and tampering with evidence. I just assumed most of these were already crimes in this state… who knew?
Alright… that’s enough for now, I’ll pick out a few more later.
posted by Thomas @ 2:38 PM
5 Comments:
Why doesn't the animal become property at the point that it's captured? Don't I have a property interest in the 12 point buck I killed (do they even make those?). It seems to me like a little bit of a "taking." It's illegal to sell what it is okay to freely capture. (Of course with prostitution it's illegal to sell what is okay to give away, but I don't see much in the way of similarities between Bambi and Bambi...)
Would it be reductio ad absurdum to apply this to alligator skin boots sold here in MS? Heck, aren't RABBITS considered game here? Foxes? That'll hurt the fur industry...
And could this be gotten around by selling somethign unrelated and including a "free" deer head? I've heard of folks getting around gun auction laws bay auctioning off #2 pencils that a gun comes with for free.
You do have a property interest in the 12 point buck you talk about in your question. However, this is a property interest that is not transferrable. It is not a taking because they are not taking it from you, you can use it, you can give it, you just can't profit off of it. For more on why it is not a taking also see minor detail #2 below.
The idea behind this law is to prevent illegal hunting and/or poaching depending on what level you are talking. If you could sell your 12 point mount for a nice profit you are going to say "Hey thats a pretty good deal to have a jingle in my pocket for something I like to do." Then you do it again, and again and it becomes a job for you. (And we all want a job we love to do) Which might seem ok except for a couple minor details.
Minor Detail #1 - there is a limit on how many deer you can kill in a year to safely manage the herd and maintain their existence in its current state. If this is a job for you, Jim Bob will want the job too, and a slippery slope starts very quickly and no deer are to be had in a couple of years. Also your job would be illegal as you are going over your limit and basically kind of like a fence for stolen property or something when you are selling illegally obtained mounts.
Minor Detail #2 - the deer is not yours when it was alive. The deer is the property of the State of Mississippi and the State will allow you to "have" (i.e. kill) a certain number per year FOR YOURSELF. This number is not to be shared among friends, you can't (legally)have the family all get a license and now you can kill 25 yourself instead of the previous 5 (not sure what the limit is but its just for example). Since the deer is not yours it is like a gift and the giver can tell you want you can do with it and what you can't and they can take it back from you when you use it improperly because those are the conditions behind the State allowing you to "have" the deer.
As for your idea about selling two pencils and getting a free deer head. I know that has been in the news some, but I do not know if the end result of these transactions have been found valid. These transactions clearly violate the "spirit" of the law and as such may or may not work. Personally, I hope it does not because we have these wildlife controls in place for a valid (in my opinion)reason.
Ah... so it really IS "The King's Deer" as it were. :D
I never thought about the idea that somebody(ies) might take to it like a job... yeah, that makes complete sense.
I thought the pencil thing was absurd when I heard it, too. I think the reason I've never heard of the results being invalidated is because nobody complained.
Would you own the deer if you domesticated it before killing it- in other words, going from ferae naturae to animus revertendi?
It appears you'd have a good property argument and a reliace based theory.
Secondly, I don't know if this makes sense, but you claim the State "gives" you the deer. I understand this point. However, you contend that this gift allows the giver to determine what the donee does with said gift.
I understand that covenants exist with regards to real property, but I've rarely heard about such a thing being done with chattels.
I'll check the AG's website and see what he says, if anything at all.
Does this law cover trophy animals harvested in a foreign country? I want to sell trophy mounts for less than I paid to mount them, as I'm a senior citizen and downsizing. These mounts were never the property of Mississippi. Am I not allowed to recover some of my mounting costs?
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