New Mexico Trappers Association v. Torrez

── New Mexico Trappers Association v. Torrez ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: June 08, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 25-2117 Document: 53-1 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS June 8, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ NEW MEXICO TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION; NATIONAL TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION; FUR TAKERS OF AMERICA, INC., Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 25-2117 RAUL TORREZ, in his official capacity as Attorney General of New Mexico; TIRZIO LOPEZ, in his official capacity as Vice Chair of the New Mexico State Game Commission; MICHAEL SLOANE, in his official capacity as Director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, Defendants - Appellees. __________________ ANIMAL PROTECTION VOTERS; HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS; ANIMAL PROTECTION NEW MEXICO; WILDEARTH GUARDIANS, Amici Curiae. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.C. No. 1:23-CV-00444-MV-SCY) _________________________________ Gary R. Leistico of Leistico & Esch, PLLC, Clear Lake, Minnesota, for Plaintiffs – Appellants.  Appellate Case: 25-2117 Document: 53-1 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 Page: 2 Amber Fayerberg, Fayerberg Dodd, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Christopher A. Dodd of Fayerberg Dodd, LLC, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Joseph Goldberg of Freedman Boyd Hollander & Goldberg, P.A., Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ellen Venegas, NM Department of Justice, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Lawrence M. Marcus, NM Department of Justice, Albuquerque, New Mexico with her on the briefs) for Defendants - Appellees. Katherine Hendrix and Nicholas Arrivo of Humane World for Animals, Washington, DC, filed an Amici Curiae brief in support of Appellees. Jennifer Schwartz of Wildearth Guardians, Portland, Oregon, filed an Amicus Curiae brief in opposition of Appellants. _________________________________ Before BACHARACH, EBEL, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ KELLY, Circuit Judge. _________________________________ Plaintiffs-Appellants, the New Mexico Trappers Association, the National Trappers Association, and the Fur Takers of America, Inc. (the “Trappers”), are non-profit organizations dedicated to trappers’ rights. They brought suit against Defendants- Appellees, several members of the New Mexico state government, 1 challenging the New Mexico Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act (the “Act”), which prohibits the trapping of animals in New Mexico. N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 17-11-1 to -5 (2026). The district court dismissed the Trappers’ federal and state constitutional claims without 1 The original Defendants were named in their official capacities and include Raúl Torrez, New Mexico Attorney General, Tirzio Lopez, Vice-Chair of the New Mexico State Game Commission, and Michael Sloane, Director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Aplt. App. 32. Richard Stump, Chair of the New Mexico State Game Commission, has since been substituted for Tirzio Lopez. Id. 2  Appellate Case: 25-2117 Document: 53-1 Date Filed: 06/08/2026 Page: 3 prejudice for lack of standing and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the rem