Wyoming Data Trespass Law Faces Court Test

Let's say you are an environmental journalist, and you take a photo of pollution pouring from a pipe on private land into a public stream. Can you go to jail for that? Possibly so, if you live in Wyoming.

Wyoming's "data trespass" law, passed in 2015, makes it illegal to gather data on pollution violations on "private open land" — whatever that is. But if you are a photojournalist parked by the side of the road, you could be in violation.

Now the first step toward challenging the constitutionality of Wyoming's law — in the face of the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of the press — has begun.

Federal District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl on December 28, 2015, ruled that a lawsuit filed by journalism and environmental groups challenging the law could continue. The state of Wyoming had moved to dismiss the suit. In a 38-page ruling on the matter, Judge Skavdahl sounded skeptical that the law was a good idea.

• "Court Will Hear Case Against Data Trespass Laws," WyoFile, December 29, 2015, by Dustin Bleizeffer.
• Previous Story: WatchDog of October 28, 2015.