RAPID CITY, S.D. — Oral arguments are set for next month in the latest round in Gov. Kristi Noem’s legal fight to shoot off fireworks at Mount Rushmore.
A three-judge panel from the 8th U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis will hear arguments on Jan 12. Both sides will get 15 minutes to speak.
Noem filed a federal lawsuit after the Biden administration refused to issue the state a permit to shoot off fireworks at Mount Rushmore to celebrate Independence Day this past July.
A federal judge rejected her arguments in June, prompting an appeal to the 8th Circuit.
Oral arguments are set before a three-judge panel in St. Louis on Wednesday, Jan. 12. Each side has 15 minutes to make its case.
Defendants are Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and the National Park Service, whose new director, Charles Sams, was sworn in on Dec. 16.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and its Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Steve Vance, are intervenor defendants.
The state is joined by 16 other states, and the feds and the tribe are joined by the National Parks Conservation Association.
