Maine high court rules against ATV rider

Written by Associated Press

Friday, November 20, 2009

Maine's highest court has overturned a lower court judge's ruling that a state law that authorized game wardens to stop all-terrain vehicle operators without cause was unconstitutional.

In a decision Thursday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court vacated a ruling that had suppressed evidence against Charles Bromiley IV, who was stopped in July 2008 for a random ATV check in Monson and arrested for operating under the influence.

In a similar case, the supreme court issued a ruling in August that gave game wardens power to stop an ATV regardless of whether they thought the operator had broken the law.

But state law has since been changed, and now says wardens are required to have reasonable suspicion to believe that a violation has taken place before stopping an ATV.

Source: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091120/NEWS0104/911199915

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“Farmers as a group rarely tend to want more government regulation. But the growing problem of trespassing caused by illegal riders spurred our membership into action to pass common-sense visible identification and ORV enforcement measures. We are proud that we were able to work with rider groups to find a solution that all sides could agree to.”

- Christopher Henney, Director of Legislative Relations, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation