Scraped and penned up Twin Peaks Mustang. Image Laura Leigh.
FINAL HEARING SET
In Defense of Animals et al v United States Department of the Interior et al
PLEASE NOTE: UPDATED DATE AND TIME
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:00 a.m.
U.S. Federal Courthouse, Eastern District of California
501 I Street
Courtroom #7 (14th Floor Judge Morrison England Jr.)
Sacramento, California
www.caed.uscourts.gov
Rachel Fazio, acting attorney, reports the following:
The courtroom capacity is approximately 100 people and I would love to have each and every seat filled by a wild horse supporter!!!! Because the hearing is in Sacramento there will likely be a number of BLM folks there, much more than the Ninth Circuit hearing – so I would at least like to match their numbers.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
This hearing is the final adjudication on all of our legal claims presented under the Wild Horse Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, including whether simply being over AML is enough to show that wild horses are excess, whether long-term holding is legal under the Act, and whether they needed to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, just to name a few.
If we win, we will be pushing to have the wild horses which were illegally captured returned to the range. If we loose, we will immediately proceed to the Ninth Circuit, where the same panel of Judges who initially reviewed our appeal of preliminary injunction is waiting to give us a final ruling on the matter, where again, we will push to have the wild horses returned.
You can check for any updates regarding the hearing on the website, under Court Calendar (menu on left side of page) and then select Judge England, Jr., and pick the date 2/23/12. Typically updates are posted starting the week before the hearing.
THE LITIGANTS
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS; DREAMCATCHER WILD HORSE AND BURRO SANCTUARY; BARBARA CLARKE; CHAD HANSON; LINDA HAY, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; KEN SALAZAR, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; ROBERT ABBEY, Director of the Bureau of Land Management; KEN COLLUM, Field Manager of Eagle Lake Field Office, Defendants.IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS; DREAMCATCHER WILD HORSE AND BURRO SANCTUARY; BARBARA CLARKE; CHAD HANSON; LINDA HAY, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; KEN SALAZAR, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; ROBERT ABBEY, Director of the Bureau of Land Management; KEN COLLUM, Field Manager of Eagle Lake Field Office, Defendants.
THE LAWSUIT
The lawsuit challenges the BLM’s approval and implementation of the 2010 Twin Peaks Gather Plan – which approved the round-up and removal of close to 2,000 wild horses and burros from the Twin Peaks HMA in northern California and western Nevada. The lawsuit seeks to set aside this decision for violations of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, including the transfer of wild horses to long-term holding facilities in the midwest, and the National Environmental Policy Act, for failure to adequately analyze the impacts of the round-up.
Source: In Defense of Animals (IDA)
