Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Now let's all watch a baby pig..."}]

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Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Now let's all watch a baby pig...

Daily Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that marijuana use alone isn’t enough to let the federal government charge a person with a felony for possessing a gun.

A federal law known under its short statutory code of 922(g)(3) bars habitual users of unlawful drugs from knowingly possessing guns. People convicted under that law can face 15 years in prison and lose their carry rights for life.

In the case of a Texan with dual Pakistani-

citizenship, some marijuana in his house, an every-other-day habit of using, and a gun, the government can’t prosecute him without violating his Second Amendment rights, says the unanimous Thursday opinion 

The opinion upholds an earlier Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling and also dismisses the Trump administration’s arguments in defense of the drug-user gun ban.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming is one of 10 states where marijuana remains illegal."}]

This opinion should matter to Wyomingites as well as any other American,

George Mocsary told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.

“We should care here in Wyoming because the case is ultimately about whether government can take away a constitutional right, including one we care a lot about here, based on a broad label rather than proven dangerousness,” said Mocsary. “The court said it can’t.”

The case isn’t just about marijuana, but about the government’s ability to hinge one’s rights on its own broad characterizations of certain people as dangerous, added Mocsary, 

who is a professor of law at the University of Wyoming and founder and director of the UW Firearms Research Center.

He emphasized that guns are part of ordinary life in Wyoming, from self-defense to hunting, ranching, and protection in remote areas.

“Once the government can disarm people simply by declaring a category dangerous, the same reasoning could be invoked against other common conduct said to correlate with risk, including something as ordinary as repeated speeding,” he said.

Mocsary said the court preserved an important distinction: the government can regulate dangerous conduct, but not “simply convert broad public-safety concerns into categorical disarmament of peaceable citizens.”

In the unanimous opinion, Gorsuch wrote that the Trump administration’s arguments that the ban on marijuana users possessing guns is rooted in the nation’s historical gun-laws tradition is unpersuasive.

That’s a reference to recent case law saying the government has to justify gun restrictions as on par with the nation’s historical tradition.

The federal government had tried to show that the ban equates to historical laws exposing habitual drunkards to restrictions like guardianships, commitments, and tougher bond arrangements.

ted people who were so habitually drunk, they were “practically incapacitated” and couldn’t conduct their affairs. Those laws would also involve a pre-judgment test to determine if a person fit that description, Gorsuch countered.

For this case’s defendant Danial Hemani, “the government claimed Mr. Hemani faced up to 15 years in prison and disarmament for life,” since he had a gun in his home and admitted to using marijuana about every other day.

“As the government construes 922(g)(3) and seeks to apply it here, the law automatically bans an individual from possessing a gun from the moment he becomes an unlawful user of any controlled substance until he ceases being one,” wrote Gorsuch. "(In the government’s view) it doesn’t matter what controlled substance an individual uses, in what amounts he does so, or whether his drug use has ever made him a danger to himself or others. 

"It doesn’t even matter why he keeps a gun or how safely he does so.”

The opinion courses over the heavy drinking habits of many of the Founding Fathers, the increasingly permissive stance the federal government has taken toward marijuana over the past 13 years, and the logical lapse between the government’s Controlled Substances Act and drug-user gun ban.

The Controlled Substances Act was passed to protect Americans’ “health and general welfare,” so some of its various drug categories can have “little or nothing to do with (drugs’) potential to induce violence.”

That severs the gun possession ban’s reliance on the Controlled Substances Act from a presumption that banned drugs make all users dangerous, the opinion notes.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion to say that a federal ban on gun possession isn’t justified under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause, because merely possessing a gun isn’t the same as sending or receiving one through interstate commerce.

Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson wrote and Justice Sonia Sotomayor joined their own concurrence, agreeing with the outcome of the case but disputing the newer, more permissive gun-rights test the majority used to reach it.

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<title>Firearms Expert Says Supreme Court Marijuana Case Important For Wyoming Gun Owners | Cowboy State Daily</title>

George Mocsary, a firearms law expert, says the U.S. Supreme Court's Thursday opinion upholding a marijuana user's right to keep a gun is important for Wyoming. "The case is ultimately about whether government can take away a constitutional right," he said.

Firearms Expert Says Supreme Court Marijuana Case Important For Wyoming Gun Owners

Government & Politics

Legislature

one of the most prominent members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, has a primary election opponent.

Doug Moore told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he decided to challenge the Republican House District 31 

in this year’s Aug. 18 primary election after numerous 

Moore, 55, is a business owner and a transportation manager for two coal mining companies.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bear, 60, also owns local businesses and is a Navy veteran."}]

Both men are Republicans who live in Gillette

both tout strong favor toward the coal industry and conservative ideals. Each man is married and has grown children.

“I’m not looking to make a big name for myself,” he said. "I don’t see myself being a career politician that’s going to climb the ladder and end up in D.C. someday. 

"I’m a local kid that grew up here, and I want to make sure my community is taken care of — and Wyoming in general. That’s what’s important to me.”

Bear in his own Thursday interview countered that the rebuttal to those statements is, “the proof is in the pudding.”

“I’ve had opportunities to go for higher office and I’ve declined,” Bear added. "I’m already fighting for Wyoming, and have the most conservative record possible."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Freedom Caucus"}]

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a populist-leaning group of Republicans in the state House that has backed property tax cuts, pro-life legislation, a reworking of the funding model for K-12 public schools and other measures.

The pro-life legislation is a mixed bag: those bills are generally popular among Freedom Caucus and non-Freedom Caucus Republicans. 

 the Legislature’s pro-life laws, while Gov. Mark Gordon has urged lawmakers to

 on the matter to voters instead of passing more bills.

Moore told Cowboy State Daily that he’s very conservative, but he will not join the Freedom Caucus because he believes the group’s members get directions from its national umbrella group, the State Freedom Caucus network.

Wyoming Freedom Caucus members discuss and coordinate their floor maneuvers via a group text with their Wyoming-based network director, 

Bear had inadvertently countered Moore’s point in a Thursday email about his bid for reelection, writing, “My family and friends are the primary reason I wish to serve the people of Campbell County.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"About Moore"}]

Moore is a licensed aviation mechanic, has an 

 degree in mining technology and has worked in the coal sector for 30 years. He was born in Michigan and moved to Wyoming with his family as a child in 1978.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I’ve got more Wyoming blood in me than anywhere else,” said Moore."}]

He said he’s a Republican because he’s conservative and doesn’t believe in high taxes or big government.

“I believe in keeping control at the lowest level of government,” said Moore.

 coal that could reinvigorate the waning industry, and said he wants to help the state guide new developments “responsibly.”

“I want to look at who wants to come (build a business in the community) and why, and make sure they’re not just looking for a lot of handouts,” said Moore.

Tech giants have been building multiple data centers in Wyoming in recent years.

With business booms come housing affordability issues, which is another concern Moore said he’d like to address, primarily by streamlining regulatory processes and “red tape.”

He said Wyoming should diversify its economy while also consider keeping more minerals for in-state use and the state’s own economy.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"About Bear"}]

a former Freedom Caucus chair and remains 

one of its most prominent voices — and one of its most powerful members.

He co-chairs the Joint Appropriations Committee, which writes the second draft of the state’s two-year budget. The governor writes the first draft, and the full Legislature writes the third and subsequent drafts until the budget becomes law in about March of every even-numbered year.

“I have been representing the hard working people of Gillette for three terms. I’m a Christian and veteran naval officer,” said Bear in a Thursday email. “I married my college sweetheart Sage. We raised two children in Gillette, and our daughter lives here with her family.”

Bear said families within his House district face inflation that cuts into their budgets every day.

“I am a proven conservative who has championed real solutions for working families,” wrote Bear, adding that, “I am the only conservative in this race.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He pointed to his work in helping to pass property tax relief bills."}]

“I firmly believe that those families know better how to spend their hard-earned money that the government does,” said Bear. “I will continue to work to limit the government's burden on families in Campbell County.”

During Bear’s chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee ahead of this past session, he was a 

During the session, Bear broke ranks to vote against several of his Freedom Caucus colleagues in opposing what he has called “corporate welfare” tax breaks or grants for large businesses.

Bear voted nay, for example, on the Energy Dominance Fund — a bill funneling severance taxes for one year into a grant and loan program to boost 

Bear in his email pointed to his work in passing a bill ensuring only 

citizens can vote in Wyoming, a 25% property tax cut, the elimination of most gun-free zones and a prohibition on red flag gun seizures, and pro-life bills.

“I’ve spoken to voters in House District 31 and will continue to answer questions and present my work for the people on social media, visiting at their doorsteps, as well as town halls throughout my time in office,” Bear said.

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<title>John Bear, One Of The Freedom Caucus’ Most Powerful Members, Has A Challenger | Cowboy State Daily</title>

John Bear, one of the most powerful members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, has a GOP challenger for his Gillette House district. "I don’t see myself being a career politician,” said Doug Moore. “I am the only conservative in this race,” countered Bear.

John Bear, One Of The Freedom Caucus’ Most Powerful Members, Has A Challenger

Politics

A federal agency has an agreement with Wyoming's two tribes to run license plate reader cameras on the reservation, authorities confirmed Thursday. 

Cowboy State Daily has observed license plate reader cameras already installed on roadside posts at the north entrance to the reservation abutting Riverton, and the south entrance from the Lander side.

The license plate readers are put up by DEA (the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) through an agreement with the tribe, said U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Joshua Barnett in a Thursday email. Barnett added that the BIA is "not part of that agreement." 

Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) Lt. Col. Karl Germain told lawmakers during a Tuesday committee meeting that the WHP was working with the BIA to put up the cameras. 

But Germain clarified in a Thursday phone call, saying he misspoke and was trying to highlight the cameras can be a good tool in crisis situations. 

"Highway Patrol doesn’t have any LPRs," said Germain. "We have no mechanism to purchase those or put them up." But the patrol's umbrella agency, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, manages the highway right-of-way and is responsible for authorizing camera installations, he said. 

The Select Committee on Tribal Relations, which is a state legislative panel,

discuss how state law interacts with the two tribal governments of Wyoming: the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone

There, Germain said, “Those (cameras) are obviously helpful for a number of reasons, and you know I fully recognize some of the privacy concerns of with that."  For missing person cases or Amber alerts, those cameras “can be invaluable to help recover that person in a timely manner,” said German. “There aren’t a lot of cameras in Wyoming right now. If the reservation is able to put those up, it’s just another tool at the disposal of law enforcement.”

Committee Co-Chair Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, voiced concern, calling the cameras a facet of “big surveillance.”

“It’s a big step in our surveillance society,” said Case. “Not quite as far as England where they have facial recognition all the way through London but … it feels that way a little bit.”

 the controversy surrounding the cameras. 

License plate readers are cameras, generally facing roadways, that capture images of vehicles and license 

 and log dates and times for those images. The devices can also capture images of drivers and occupants of vehicles and passersby.

Case amplified his comments in a Thursday interview, saying the license plate readers, government-accessible DNA databases, facial recognition technology and other government surveillance measures now in play would have been "appalling" to the Founding Fathers. 

"All this stuff is somewhat '1984'-ish," said Case, referring to George Orwell's dystopian novel about an authoritarian surveillance state. 

[{"type":"text","text":"This Drug Trafficking"}]

The cameras have been posted for "months" Wyoming Department of Transportation public relations specialist Cody Beers told Cowboy State Daily. 

An advocate of the license plate readers, Nicole Wagon touted them as useful and important during a Jan. 27 meeting of the Tribal Relations Committee. 

Wagon, who lost one daughter to murder and another to hypothermia amid suspicious circumstances, is an advocate for better safety measures for indigenous people.

“It’s a component to stop the violence. It’s a component to make it safe for all the community members,” said Wagon of the cameras, 

She said the Wind River Intertribal Council, which comprises executive-branch governments of both tribes, signed a resolution in 2024 to work with license plate reader efforts on the reservation.

Neither the Eastern Shoshone Business Council nor the Northern Arapaho Business Council responded to Cowboy State Daily’s 

requests for comment, however the ESBC’s spokeswoman requested more information on the topic, which 

Cowboy State Daily inquired of the BIA at that time, and the agency said on Feb. 3 that it “does not have license plate readers on the Wind River Indian Reservation” and to check with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

The agency’s spokesman Joshua Barnett said Thursday in a follow-up exchange that the DEA puts up the license plate readers “through an agreement with the tribe,” of which BIA is not a part.

While he did not confirm the cameras’ presence or use, DEA Public Affairs Officer Stephan Tubbs wrote in a Jan. 28 email that, “The key trafficking routes for the Mexican Cartels across our Rocky Mountain Field Division are the I-25, I-70, and I-80 corridors in Colorado and Wyoming.”

“These highways are arteries for the cartels to bring their poison — namely fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine — into and across our nation,” Tubbs said, adding that targeting cartel routes is “vital.”

“Any and all tools available need to be utilized to save American lives from the continuing deadly impact the cartels and their dangerous drugs inflict on our communities,” said Tubbs. He referred back to that statement when Cowboy State Daily sent a follow-up inquiry in May. 

The FBI, which also performs law enforcement functions and investigations on the reservation, declined in a Feb. 2 email from FBI public affairs officer Vikki Migoya to comment “about investigative techniques or law enforcement tools we might or might not use.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Criminals Or 'Complete Morons'"}]

Erick Blackburn, former chief of the Wind River’s BIA outpost, discussed the cameras on a public Facebook exchange last month.

 map showing two of the cameras stationed at the reservation’s Riverton entrance.

, they’re license plate readers,” wrote Blackburn in a comment, 

referring to AI-powered license plate technology used by several Wyoming municipalities. 

“Law enforcement can search specific license plates for ATL — attempt to locate — for Amber alerts and vehicles reported to be trafficking narcotics,” Blackburn continued. "Everyone against them is criminal themselves or complete morons!!”

Blackburn said in another comment that was the BIA chief who “oversaw the project in an attempt to apprehend the narcotics coming into Fremont County and the reservation.”

He said both tribes are “heavy in favor” of the technology and “we had to have their full approval.”

“They were sick and tired of their people senselessly dying,” Blackburn added.

Blackburn, who later confirmed he’s now retired, said the cameras are working and fentanyl overdoses have declined.

 drug dealing POS, or snatching children and trying to drive away with them, you have nothing to worry about,” Blackburn wrote.

Blackburn did not immediately respond to a message request for further comment.

Barnett said Thursday that he was told a former BIA chief may have helped the tribe with the project, on the tribal side, but the project is still a DEA and tribal venture. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Obey The Constitution"}]

Robert Frommer, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice and one of the attorneys urging stronger Fourth Amendment protections in this area, told Cowboy State Daily he’s not in favor of eradicating the cameras.

But they should be subject to the same Fourth Amendment restraints as other law enforcement tools, he said in a Thursday phone interview.

The Fourth Amendment generally bars entry into a person’s home without a warrant, for example, but has exceptions for “exigent circumstances” 

 indications that someone is being harmed inside the home.

On hearing about the cameras stationed at the reservation’s entrances, Frommer said that’s a common method across the nation so that law enforcement can track who enters and leaves a given region. 

When he reviewed Cowboy State Daily’s photographs, he said they’re not Flock brand cameras, but some other brand.

“It’s hard to feel secure and to go about your daily life when you’re always knowing that the government is looking over your shoulder,” he said. “And that’s what these ALPRs (automatic license plate readers) allow. This, kind of, pervasive monitoring of individuals.”

 on this issue would require officers to get a warrant before accessing a person’s historical location information, unless an emergency makes getting a warrant impractical. 

It would restrict the data gatherers’ conveyance of people’s historical location information to third parties.

It would require that a record is created every time someone’s historical location information is accessed, and it would require training for officers accessing that historical information.

The proposed legislation would specify that authorities can’t use unlawfully obtained camera data to prosecute someone, but they also can face civil consequences for violating someone’s rights.

[{"type":"text","text":"The technology can be easy to abuse, said Frommer."}]

“Without any kind of warrant requirement or even internal procedures, it often means that the person deciding whether to search or not is just the bored officer in the patrol car,” said Frommer. “We’ve seen abuses where police have been stalking former romantic partners, wives, ex-boyfriends; other situations where it’s been used to keep tabs on people who are engaged in political activity.”

[{"type":"text","text":"This spreads to the immigration debate, he said."}]

Frommer and his co-counsel in an April 15 lawsuit complaint against the city of San Jose, California, wrote that that city’s massive AI-enhanced surveillance camera system has cameras near immigration lawyers’ offices and health care facilities.

As for the Wind River, Frommer said that, “I understand there might be drug problems in Wyoming and the reservation. There are drug problems all over the country.

“But you can’t let the worries of the day blind you to the long-term constitutional problems of what you’re doing.”

He added, “We want people to obey the law. And if we want people to obey the law then we have to, with just as much vigor, want our officers and government officials to obey the Constitution.”

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<title>License Plate Cameras At Entrances To Wind River Reservation Spark Controversy | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Drug Enforcement Administration has installed license plate cameras on or around the Wind River Reservation, authorities confirmed Thursday. "All this stuff is somewhat '1984'-ish," Sen. Cale Case said. "It’s a big step in our surveillance society.”

License Plate Cameras At Entrances To Wind River Reservation Spark Controversy

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Pushing back against any more attempts to sell large swaths of federal lands, a pair of Democrats are pushing bills in the U.S. House and Senate to forbid such sales.

The lead bill is H.R. 9176, the Public Lands Integrity Act, introduced to the House earlier this month by Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-New Mexico. A mirror bill was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado.

Wyoming Republicans Rep. Harriet Hageman and Sens John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis oppose the bills.

Aaron Bannon, executive director of the Wyoming Wilderness Association, told Cowboy State Daily that he thinks this is one time Wyoming’s congressional delegation should cross party lines.

“They might not want to sign on to a bill that came from a Democrat,” Bannon said.

He added that if they do, “They would not be disappointing the people of this state” but rather supporting the bill.

As evidence, he cited widespread pushback to a 2025 attempt by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, to include federal land sales in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

After criticism from hunters, hikers, environmentalists and many others, Lee 

At the time Hageman backed Lee, arguing that the lands he wanted to put up for sale weren’t in good hunting or recreation areas, and could have been used for housing development and the like.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What The Bill Proposes"}]

The Public Lands Integrity Act aims to block any future attempts to propose federal land sales through the budget reconciliation process, which allows measures to be passed by a simple majority in the Senate.

It would therefore “close a loophole” allowing sales attempts like Lee’s to be slipped into budgetary procedures, according to Vasquez

“The Public Lands Integrity Act would amend a section of the Congressional Budget Act — commonly known as the Byrd Rule — to clarify that any provision resulting in the sale, transfer, or disposal of federal public lands is considered extraneous and outside the scope of budget reconciliation,” according to a statement from Vasquez.

That doesn’t mean federal land sales or exchanges would be shut down altogether, he argued.

The act “would not affect legitimate land exchanges, local conveyances, permitting reforms, grazing, timber management, energy development, or other public land management decisions,” Vasquez stated.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Delegation Says No"}]

In statements to Cowboy State Daily, Hageman, Barrasso and Lummis said they’ll oppose the Public Lands Integrity Act.

Barrasso stated that it would undermine best land management practices at local levels.

“Local communities, not broad federal legislation, should determine how land is managed,” he said. "I remain committed to responsible, multiple-use management of our federal lands — including energy development, grazing, recreation, and timber management.”

Hageman stated that the bill takes the focus off of what she sees as a push to restore sound management to federal lands, including rescinding or nullifying the 2001 Roadless Rule.

Nullifying the Roadless Rule will make lands “manageable again,” Hageman stated.

“This bill ignores the reality facing public lands that continue to suffer under federal mismanagement,” she said. "It recklessly disregards the catastrophic wildfires and beetle outbreaks which have devastated forests across the country.

“I oppose any effort to make public land management more difficult with additional layers of red tape that threaten our Western way of life."

Lummis said the bill would “lock up” lands that belong to Wyoming’s people.

"The federal government owns nearly half of all land across the West — in states like Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah, that figure reaches or exceeds 50%. That level of federal control creates real challenges for our local communities, state governments, and effective land management. I will not support any legislation that advances efforts to lock up our public lands and shut out the ranchers, energy producers, recreationists, and families who depend on them,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Where We Go For Day Hikes"}]

Bannon said the Public Lands Integrity Act would prevent the sales of “large swaths” of federal land.

He added that the attempts by Hageman and others to end the Roadless Rule go against many Wyomingite’s wishes.

“Hageman’s bill has a road-building mandate in it. That’s not what Wyoming people want,” he said. “I don’t think many people realize that the place they go for their daily hike is in a roadless area."

Craig Benjamin, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, said his organization hasn’t taken an official stance on the Public Lands Integrity Act. But it seems to lean in the right direction.

“We haven’t done a deep review yet, but the basic principle lines up with where WWF has long stood: public lands decisions should be made in the open, with hunters, anglers, local communities, and wildlife interests at the table,” he said.

“Wyoming’s public lands are important to our wildlife, outdoor heritage, and way of life,” he added. "Decisions about their future deserve public scrutiny and full debate, not a shortcut through a federal budget bill."

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<title>Wyoming Congressional Delegation Doesn't Support Democrat Bill To Stop Federal Land Sales | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming's congressional delegation says they do not support a Democrat bill that bans the sale of large swaths of federal lands. “I oppose any effort to make public land management more difficult ... and threaten our Western way of life," Hageman said.

Wyoming Congressional Delegation Doesn't Support Democrat Bill To Stop Federal Land Sales

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

CHEYENNE — A jury trial remains scheduled to start in less than two months for a 14-year-old charged as an adult with first-degree murder, accused of shooting his mother in the head after an argument over a stolen electronic tablet.

A Cheyenne 14-year-old charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the death of his mother is set for a jury trial in less than two months. His defense claims he was emotionally abused, while investigators say he admitted he hated his mother.

Daily Smile: Monday, December 18, 2023

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