NATION IN BRIEF : MAINE : Blockades to Search Canoeists Barred
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Armed state officials had no right to set up a “riverblock” to stop and search people canoeing on the Saco River, Maine’s Supreme Court ruled. Two state agencies set up the riverblocks on three weekends in 1988 to try to stop rowdy and illegal conduct. The justices agreed unanimously with a lower court judge who said the searches violated the federal and state constitutions. The ruling came in a suit by Daniel and Jarlene Hatfield of Rochester, N.H., who were searched extensively.
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