Forbidden Data: Wyoming just criminalized citizen science

slate.com

34 points·zimbu668··7 comments

When this originally appeared, I looked into it, and found it to be nonsense.

WY did nothing of the sort. Google around, and you'll find this is a law increasing penalties for people trespassing on private property to get to places to sample water, and this is because trespassers have been causing trouble for land owners in the region the legislators that introduced this bill represent.

The old penalties were not enough to deter people, so the penalties were increased. It's a reasonable reaction to increased trespassing.

It does nothing to stop people from getting samples and doing whatever science they want from places that do not involve trespassing.

Oh, and for the record, massive amounts of land in WY are public, which you can also Google. So there's still plenty of places to access probably every watershed to see what is going on.

The actual law [1]

[1] http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/Enroll/SF0012.pdf

Ah, but detailed analysis like this conflicts with the need for catchy headlines.

Quite a fluke for Wyoming. It's generally a very libertarian political climate... I guess that's what happens with climate changes. [pun intended :P]

Good luck enforcing an unconstitutional law.

Unconstitutional laws are constitutional until you attempt to enforce them against someone with deep pockets (and for several years thereafter while the appellate courts do their thing).

They are not "constitutional"... they are just regular laws.

Also, I imagine the ACLU would love to help someone take this case all the way to the supreme court.

They don't have to carry enforcement all the way through to a sentencing; merely charging citizens is a huge annoyance and threat that'll loom over their heads.

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