United States Ninth Circuit

In a suit by a photojournalist contending that viewing restrictions at a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) horse roundup violated her First Amendment right to observe government activities, the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction to require the BLM to provide the photojournalist with unrestricted access to horse roundups is reversed, where: 1) the case was not moot because the preliminary injunction motion sought unrestricted access to future horse roundups, and not just the most recent one; 2) the district court erred by failing to apply the qualified right of access balancing test set forth in Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court, 478 U.S. 1 (1986), when ruling on whether the plaintiff was likely to succeed on the merits of her First Amendment claim.

Appellate Information

• Decided 02/14/2012
• Published 02/14/2012

Judges

• M. Smith

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Gordon M. Cowan, Nicholas A. DiMascio