Justice For Cowboys

To all parents of school-age children attending Wyoming public schools, beware: Wyoming law enforcement can and will pull your children out of class to interview them without your permission. You may wonder to yourself: but don’t they need my permission to talk to my child? And the answer is, surprisingly, no. They can just do it. You may further wonder: but they need to at least notify me, right?...

For Parents: Wyoming police will interview your kids at school without your permission To all parents of school-age children attending Wyoming public schools, beware: Wyoming law enforcement can and will pull your children out of class to interview them without your permission. You m…

In Wyoming, all (adult) criminal cases begin in the circuit court. But only misdemeanors stay circuit court. This post is about best practices for a single jurisdiction in Wyoming -- the circuit court in Natrona County, which oversees cases filed in the Seventh Judicial District. Natrona County covers Casper, Evansville, Mills, and Bar Nunn. It is one the most populated counties in Wyoming....

Best Practices: Misdemeanor Criminal Cases in Natrona County Circuit Court In Wyoming, all (adult) criminal cases begin in the circuit court. But only misdemeanors stay circuit court. This post is about best practices for a single jurisdiction in Wyoming — the circu…

Well, it has been a busy 2023 and start to 2024. At the end of 2022, I became the managing member of my law firm, Fuller & Semerad, LLC. So, 2023 was a year of navigating a new role with greater responsibilities while finishing up some complex and important work and taking on new challenges too. All the while, my wife became pregnant again and just last week we welcomed a beautiful, happy, and healthy baby girl into our lives....

Back in the saddle. Well, it has been a busy 2023 and start to 2024. At the end of 2022, I became the managing member of my law firm, Fuller & Semerad, LLC. So, 2023 was a year of navigating a new role with greate…

SCOTUS waters down Bruton protections for defendants in joint trials.

A woman and I went out Saturday night and robbed Bill — a very bad, no good lesson from SCOTUS on the Confrontation Clause Source: ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. No changes were made to the original. …

Ryan Semerad's opinion on the Wyoming Federal District Court's corner crossing order.

Semerad on Wyoming Corner Crossing Case Ryan Semerad’s opinion on the Wyoming Federal District Court’s corner crossing order.

Source: Jarmo Matilainen / Helsingin Sanomat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons It has been too long since I've written here. A recent Wyoming Supreme Court case caught my eye and gave me inspiration to add another post today. Today, the Wyoming Supreme Court held that the Wyoming Constitution does not require probable cause or a warrant before a law enforcement officer has a drug dog sniff the exterior of a vehicle....

“Kansas Ditch Weed” and Dog Sniffs under the Wyoming Constitution Source: Jarmo Matilainen / Helsingin Sanomat, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons It has been too long since I’ve written here. A recent Wyoming Supreme Court case caught my eye and gave me …

Wyoming has a new law revoking firearm rights from nonviolent felons so that it can restore these rights later. Is this law legally sound? (It is.)

Wyo Legislature Expedites Restoration of Gun, Civil Rights for First-Time Nonviolent Felons; Also (Correctly) Strips Gun Rights from Nonviolent Felons Source: United States Senate – Office of Dan Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The dust has nearly settled on the 2023 legislative session in Wyoming. However, several laws passe…

A Brief Recap of The Fourth Amendment and Private Businesses

Fourth Amendment and Private Businesses Inside a shopping center in PolandSource: WrS.tm.pl, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons On February 8, 2023, Oil City News published a story about a Casper police sergeant who faced a disciplinar…

First of all, I am writing this from my cell phone. So, apologies for formatting issues or typos. Today, the United States Court of Appeals, for the Fifth Circuit, struck down a federal statute that prohibits individuals who are subject to protection orders from possessing fi****ms. And doing so, the court followed the United States Supreme Court’s decision last year in…...

Following Bruen, Fifth Circuit Strikes Down Federal Law Prohibiting People Subject to Protection Orders From Possessing Fi****ms First of all, I am writing this from my cell phone. So, apologies for formatting issues or typos. Today, the United States Court of Appeals, for the Fifth Circuit, struck down a federal statute tha…

Wyoming Supreme Court Clarifies When Miranda Advisements Must Be Given to Suspects

Wyoming Supreme Court Clarifies When Miranda Advisements are Required Source: The Library of Congress, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons; Selected from “The War of the Nations: Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings,” published by the New York Times shor…

SCOTUS grants States the power to prosecute crimes committed on Tribal lands.

From SCOTUS: State and Feds Both Have Power to Prosecute “Non-Indians” in Indian Country On June 29, 2022, the United States Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision that upended “centuries of tradition and practice” concerning the prosecution of crimes committed by non-Native A…

Wyoming Supreme Court expands the Castle Doctrine -- vehicles protected, attempted entry not required before force may be used.

Wyoming Supreme Court Expands “Castle Doctrine” (Source: Demeester, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) Wyoming’s castle doctrine applies to force used against intruders attempting to enter vehicles adapted to allow a person to sleep or st…