(CN) - A reporter urged the 9th Circuit to revive her claims that her First Amendment rights were trampled during a 2010 federal roundup of wild horses on public land.
It was the second time Laura Leigh, a photojournalist and wild horse advocate, appeared before the federal appeals court in support of her suit concerning the Bureau of Land Management's September 2010 roundup of some 500 wild horses at the Silver King Herd Management Area in Lincoln County, Nev.
The bureau organizes the roundups to meet the requirements of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, a law that puts the federal government in charge of the herds of wild animals. If the BLM determines there is an overpopulation, it must "immediately remove excess animals from the range so as to achieve appropriate management levels."
Roundups involve having helicopters and wranglers herd the horses into a temporary corral, or trap, from which they are sorted for adoption or transported to a long-term holding facility.
Leigh wanted to get close enough to the 2010 horse gather to take pictures of the animals at the moment of capture, but the bureau had just adopted new restrictions to keep the public farther from the action than in previous roundups. Officials said safety demanded tighter control over reporters and the public, and U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks refused to issue a temporary restraining order.
Once the roundup had concluded, Hicks deemed a separately filed motion for injunctive relief moot. He also found that Leigh was unlikely to succeed on her First Amendment claims because she had been afforded access comparable to that which other members of the public and the press received.
In its first ruling on the case, early last year, the 9th Circuit directed the trial court to explore Leigh's press freedom assertions more deeply.
"A court cannot rubber-stamp an access restriction simply because the government says it is necessary," Judge Milan Smith wrote for the court at the time. "By reporting about the government, the media are 'surrogates for the public.'"
It is not at issue whether the BLM prohibited Leigh from observing the horse gather altogether, but rather "whether the viewing restrictions were unconstitutional," he added. "On that question, the district court failed to conduct the proper First Amendment analysis."
Hicks in turn held an evidentiary hearing this year and issued a new ruling that said the public has a right of access, but that the new restrictions were narrowly tailored enough that Leigh's rights had not been violated. The bureau's rules allowed for the effective and efficient capture of the horses, while protecting those watching, he ruled.
Since the Bureau of Land Management's current authorization to trap wild horses in the Silver King Herd Management Area expires on Dec. 31, the hearing Tuesday looked at whether the appellate panel could force a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order, as the chance of a new roundup before the end of the year is very low.
