Stavrianoudakis v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

California has the right to require a license for falconry—it does not have the right to search your home without a warrant.

The Fourth Amendment protects every Americans right to freedom from unreasonable searches of their homes, property and papers. Unless, apparently, you are a falconer in California.

For decades, Peter Stavrianoudakis, Eric Arioshi, and the members of American Falconry Conservancy (AFC) have practiced falconry. In California, this centuries-old tradition of caring for, training and hunting with birds of prey requires its participants to obtain a specific license.

For these dedicated falconers, their birds are more than just pets, and falconry is more than just a sport—it is a way of life. Unlike a dog or cat that you can just feed and play with occasionally, the art of falconry requires hours of dedication each week, and years of practice. Their birds become like a member of their own families.

Because of this, most falconers keep their birds inside their homes.

Regardless of this fact, California regulations require falconers as a condition of getting their license, to “agree” that armed California Fish and Wildlife officers can show up unannounced on their doorsteps and demand entry into their homes to inspect equipment, raptors and records.

The Liberty Justice Center represents Mr. Stavrianoudakis and other California falconers in their federal challenge to this government licensing scheme that requires them to give up Fourth Amendment rights as a condition of practicing falconry.

At the heart of the falconers’ claim is a basic constitutional principle: the government cannot force someone to choose between exercising a constitutional right and obtaining a license needed to engage in a lawful activity.

In July 2024, the Ninth Circuit recognized that having to agree to an unconstitutional condition placed on a public benefit, like a falconry license, is an enforceable constitutional injury regardless of whether a warrantless search has occurred. The coerced waiver of a constitutional right is itself a serious legal injury.

The Ninth Circuit returned the Fourth Amendment unconstitutional conditions claim to the district court for further proceedings. But instead of complying with the Constitution, California slightly changed the verbiage on the falconry license Mr. Stavrianoudakis and other falconers are required to sign every year. Now, instead of explicitly mentioning the waiver requirement, it only implies it. And for the district court, that was enough to dismiss the case.

But absolutely nothing in the law has changed.

If falconers like Mr. Stavrianoudakis want to get a license, they are still required to give up their  constitutionally protected rights and “agree” to allow the government to violate the Fourth Amendment.

“California is infringing on the constitutionally protected Fourth Amendment rights of these falconers,” said Timothy Snowball, Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “The only way to make this right is by doing what the Fourth Amendment requires. If the government wants to search someone’s home: get a warrant.”

The Liberty Justice Center has assumed representation of Peter Stavrianoudakis and the other plaintiffs as the case returns to the Ninth Circuit. The appeal seeks to ensure that government agencies cannot evade the law through a change in paperwork, meanwhile maintaining the power to infringe on individual rights.  

The case will help determine whether Americans can be required to surrender their Fourth Amendment rights in order to receive a government license for a lawful activity.

Peter and California falconers deserve better than that.