To My 1,541 Supporters —
I've seen comments that this is "out of bounds" because many of you aren't from Georgia, or that asking to amend a constitution is "unconstitutional". It's neither. Let me be clear on what this is actually about.
This is not just an animal rights petition.
This is about the 1st Amendment and the 4th Amendment.
The 1st Amendment — our right to petition.
The First Amendment says we have the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. That's what this is. I'm from Shelbyville, Tennessee. Not my donkey, not my land. But I can still ask Georgia to look at its own law. So can you. The First Amendment doesn't have a Georgia-only filter.
A petition does not rewrite a constitution by itself. If Georgia legislators ever took this up, it would still require a 2/3 vote in the Georgia House and a 2/3 vote in the Georgia Senate, and then it would go on the ballot for a majority of Georgia voters to decide. Only Georgia voters can amend Georgia's constitution. Not me. Not you if you're out of state. Only Georgia voters. We are simply using our right to ask them to consider it.
That is completely within the confines of the Constitution.
The 4th Amendment — the reason we're asking.
The reason we are asking to abolish the open field doctrine is because of what that doctrine does to 4th Amendment protections. Hee Haw was a 1-year-old donkey in Cedartown, GA — Case 4:26-cv-00270-WMR. The doctrine was used to allow law enforcement to be on private property without a warrant. If they can do it there, they can do it to anyone's land, anyone's barn, anyone's home place.
You don't have to be from Georgia to care about that precedent.
So no, it's not out of bounds socially because signers aren't from Georgia. And no, it's not unconstitutional to ask.
We are at 1,541 verified signatures, 972 shares, 33 promoters, $403 in contributions, 4,834 views — ONLY 11 TO GO to our next goal. Heather Illman just put in CA$30.
This is about people-who-give-a-damn-about-Hee-Haw-and-4th-amendment rights.
Thank you for using your 1st Amendment right to defend everyone's 4th Amendment right.
For Hee Haw,
Zachery Swain -petition starter-
Shelbyville, TN