Kleppe v. New Mexico

Kleppe v. New Mexico
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 23, 1976 Decided June 17, 1976
Full case name	Thomas S. Kleppe, Secretary of the Interior v. New Mexico, et al.
Citations	426 U.S. 529 (more) 96 S.Ct. 2285; 49 L.Ed.2d 34
Prior history	New Mexico v. Morton, 406 F. Supp. 1237 (D.N.M. 1975)
Holding
The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was a constitutional exercise of congressional power under the property clause at least insofar as it was applied to prohibit the from entering upon the public lands of the United States and removing wild burros under the New Mexico Estray Law.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Majority	Marshall, joined by a unanimous court
Laws applied
U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3, cl. 2; 16 U.S.C. § 1331, et seq.

Kleppe v. New Mexico, 426 U.S. 529 (1976), was a United States Supreme Court decision that unanimously held the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, passed in 1971 by the United States Congress to protect these animals from "capture, branding, harassment, or death", to be a constitutional exercise of congressional power. In February 1974, the rounded up and sold 19 unbranded burros from Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. When the BLM demanded the animals' return, the state filed suit claiming that the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was unconstitutional; claiming the federal government did not have the power to control animals in federal lands unless they were items in interstate commerce or causing damage to the public lands.

In 1971, Congress passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, Pub.L. 92–195, 85 Stat. 649, enacted December 15, 1971 (later codified at 16 U.S.C. § 1331, et seq.) (WFRHBA). The act covered the management, protection and study of "unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on public lands in the United States." The act requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to protect and manage wild horses as a component of public property of the United States. Free ranging horses are to be protected from "capture, branding, harassment, or death." The managing agencies are the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for Interior and the Forest Service (USFS) for Agriculture.