KENNEBEC JOURNAL • October 4, 2023
The state’s highest court heard arguments Wednesday on whether Maine’s longstanding ban on Sunday hunting violates the state Constitution. A Readfield couple, Virginia and Joel Parker, filed a lawsuit last year claiming the 140-year-old Sunday hunting ban violates the “right to food” amendment to the Maine Constitution voters approved in 2021. The lawsuit, which was dismissed by a Superior Court justice, was appealed to the state Supreme Court, which took up the matter. Pamela Lee, representing the Parkers, said, “The Superior Court erred in dismissing the Parkers’ claims. Because under a straightforward reading of this new constitutional amendment, Maine’s statutory ban on Sunday hunting is unconstitutional as applied to those who hunt for food.” Paul Suitter, an assistant attorney general, countered that state officials were clear, when the new amendment was adopted into law, that it would not invalidate any existing state hunting or fishing laws.