Court says fence law complaint should be heard

A lawsuit by a Blanchard horse rancher who challenged North Dakota's century-old fence law has been revived by an appeals court. A federal judge threw out the complaint by La Verne Koenig, who was convicted by a jury of allowing livestock to run at large because authorities say he failed to maintain a legal fence. He was ordered to pay $5,400 for injuries allegedly inflicted on a neighbor's horse by one of Koenig's horses. Koenig raised several issues, including a claim that a creek and ditch on his property qualified as a legal fence. The 8th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that several of Koenig's claims should be heard in federal court. AP

Scratchin' my head wondering how a lawsuit over a state fence law wound up in federal court.