
Forbidden Data: Wyoming just criminalized citizen science - zimbu668
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2015/05/wyoming_law_against_data_collection_protecting_ranchers_by_ignoring_the.html
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ChrisLomont
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](http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2015/Enroll/SF0012.pdf)

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

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elcritch
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]

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coldcode
Good luck enforcing an unconstitutional law.

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superuser2
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).

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spott
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.

