McKelvey v. United States
Headline: Court upheld convictions of five men who used threats and gunfire to block ranch workers from driving sheep across federal public land, confirming federal law bans obstructing free passage on public lands.
Holding:
- Confirms criminal penalties for blocking passage on public lands.
- People claiming a private exception must prove that claim in court.
- Preserves state grazing rules that do not conflict with federal law.
Summary
Background
Five men were indicted, tried, and convicted in federal court in Idaho for using force, threats, and intimidation to stop three ranch employees from driving a band of sheep along a usual trail over unoccupied federal public land in August 1919. The defendants demanded the sheep take a different trail, returned with rifles, chased and shot one employee, and forced the others to move the sheep. The prosecution relied on sections 3 and 4 of an 1885 federal law that forbids preventing free passage over public lands by unlawful means.
Reasoning
The Court addressed whether the statute reaches temporary, occasion-specific acts and whether the penal section applies only to owners or agents. It held the law covers transient and continuing obstructions alike and that the penal provision is broad enough to punish offenders who are not owners or agents. The Court also explained the proviso excepting bona fide occupants is an affirmative claim the defendants must prove, and found Congress has authority to regulate use of public lands without displacing proper state police rules.
Real world impact
The decision confirms that people who use force or threats to keep others off federal public lands can be criminally punished, even for a one-time obstruction. State rules about grazing and range use still apply when they do not conflict with the federal law. The conviction was affirmed, leaving the federal prohibition against obstructing free passage on public lands in force.
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