Deputy Wrong To Bar Yellowstone Bison Watcher: Appeals Court

BILLINGS, MT — A federal appeals court sided with a wildlife activist who said his free speech rights were violated when a deputy refused to let him watch livestock agents herd wild bison into Yellowstone National Park.

There was no legitimate reason to prevent activist Anthony Reed from observing the bison from a nearby gravel road in May 2012, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday.

A Gallatin County sheriff's deputy cited Reed for obstructing a peace officer after Reed initially would not get behind a barricade that was out of sight of the herding operations. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

A state court dismissed the obstruction charge, and Reed sued Gallatin County officials for violating his First Amendment rights.

He later appealed after a lower court sided with the defendants.

Photo credit: Robert Graves/Associated Press