Timothy R. Snowball
Tim Snowball serves as Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he fights to keep government power in check while protecting the individual constitutional rights of Americans.
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.
Tim Snowball serves as Senior Counsel at Liberty Justice Center, where he fights to keep government power in check while protecting the individual constitutional rights of Americans.
Meredith Pettman serves as Staff Attorney for Liberty Justice Center. This position brings her full circle, as her love of the Constitution and the Founding Era is what drove her to law school. Meredith enjoys bringing her personal passion for liberty and the Rule of Law into professional practice.
California Falconer. Conservationist. Defender of the Fourth Amendment.
Peter Stavrianoudakis is a California falconer and a member and former president of the American Falconry Conservancy, (AFC), a group founded in the early 2000s to defend the constitutional rights of licensed falconers across the United States. Along with Eric Arioshi, proud father and fellow falconer, Peter and AFC are leading the charge to defend the Fourth Amendment rights of licensed falconers in California and beyond.
For decades, Peter has practiced falconry—the millennia-old art of caring for, training and hunting with birds of prey. Falconry is not simply a pastime for Peter. It requires patience, skill and hours of dedicated care each week. Peter cares for his birds like they are members of his family, and he keeps them in his home where he can easily access and take care of them. Where else would you have members of your family live?
Peter has always followed the rules and regulations required by the state of California to practice his craft, but the license required to engage in falconry requires him to give up a key part of his individual liberties. To receive his license Peter must agree to allow armed California Fish and Wildlife officers access to his home without notice and demand entry to inspect his birds, equipment and records.
Peter believes what we all know to be the truth: that the government cannot enter your private property without a warrant.
Peter is not challenging California’s ability to license falconry. He is challenging the requirement that falconers surrender their constitutional rights in order to receive the license necessary to continue a lawful activity.
For Peter, the issue is simple: he should not be required to sign away his constitutionally protected rights to participate in the practice of falconry.
No American should have to choose between a passion of theirs and protecting the privacy of his home. Today, Peter is fighting to ensure that government agencies cannot make people give up their Fourth Amendment rights as the price of receiving a license.
“I love being a falconer. What I don’t love is the government giving itself permission to enter my home without a warrant.”