Lawsuit Roundup (June 2025)
A rundown of locally-filed or locally-significant lawsuits occurring across various courts. Some have been decided. Some are ongoing. All have an impact on life in Albany County.
Wyoming is awash with lawsuits.
From court battles over the future of education to federal suits outlining the rights of transgender Americans, plaintiffs in Laramie and beyond are litigating the most important issues of our time.
There are so many it can be hard to keep track. But your friendly neighborhood journalist is here to help.
Two years ago, the Laramie Reporter published a rundown of some of the most pressing cases in Wyoming, highlighting the issues at stake and bringing readers up to speed about where those proceedings stood.
Today, I’m bringing you a similar roundup, noting both local and federal suits — some finished, others ongoing.
Each of them, in their own way, has the potential to shape or reshape the legal landscape on which our community is built. Together, they will influence the future of Laramie and beyond.
Wyoming Education Association v. State of Wyoming (2022)
Case: The lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s “unconstitutional” underfunding of public schools.
Jurisdiction: Wyoming Supreme Court
Status: Decided in the association’s favor, but appealed to the state supreme court. The Wyoming Education Association, which represents teachers, sued the state in 2022, alleging that state lawmakers had systemically underfunded public education, failing their constitutional duty to provide a quality education for all students. Three years later, the Laramie County District Court agreed in a sweeping decision that mandates Wyoming update its school financing model so that schools can offer reasonable salaries to teachers, invest in mental health resources, maintain adequate school facilities and reduce disparities between districts. As the state legislature begins to rework its funding model in the twice-a-decade process known as “recalibration,” the state has appealed the district court’s decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Wyoming Education Association, et al. v. State of Wyoming (2025)
Case: The lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s private school voucher program.
Jurisdiction: Laramie County District Court
Status: Ongoing, and just getting started. On the heels of its win in the 2022 case, the Wyoming Education Association is suing the state once more, this time aiming to halt the private school voucher program from going into effect this summer. The program — first passed in 2024, then expanded in 2025 — is set to give Wyoming families up to $7,000 per student to cover private school tuition, or other private, charter or homeschooling costs. There is no income cap, meaning every family, no matter how financially well-off they are, can access the vouchers. Opponents, including the WEA, have argued the program will divert money away from public schools. The lawsuit alleges the program does not provide meaningful oversight on the private schools it will fund, and will ultimately result in the state using taxpayer dollars to support schools, like religious elementaries, that can legally discriminate against children with disabilities or LGBTQ+ children. Attorneys for both parties appeared for a hearing Friday in Laramie County District Court, where the judge granted a preliminary injunction. That means the state cannot hand out money until the lawsuit is resolved.
Wright v. University of Wyoming
Case: A lawsuit alleging a former UW dean was ousted in an act of retaliation.
Jurisdiction: Albany County District Court
Status: Ongoing, and just getting started. For years, the Wyoming Legislature has bankrolled a UW project known as the Tier 1 Engineering Initiative. The goal of that project is transforming UW’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences into one of the top such schools in the nation. In 2022, UW launched the School of Computing as a division of the College of Engineering and supported it, in part, with $500,000 a year from UW’s Tier 1 Engineering funds. As the School of Computing grew and prepared to stand as its own unit, separate from the engineering school, UW signaled its intention to keep that half-million transfer in place. Internal documents later obtained by the Laramie Reporter show Engineering Dean Cameron Wright objected to the planned out-of-college transfer, arguing it would be contrary to the will of the legislature that provided that Tier 1 funding. Tense exchanges, drawing in both attorneys and state lawmakers, followed. In one email, Laramie Rep. Karlee Provenza (HD-45) and Sen. Chris Rothfuss (SD-9) warned UW not to retaliate against Wright for standing his ground on the transfer. In April, UW removed Wright from his deanship, inspiring outrage from Wright’s subordinates and superiors, other faculty and university donors. UW denies that Wright’s removal was retaliation. Instead, the university alleges Wright was failing to adequately advance UW’s Tier 1 goals. The university has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.
Armstrong v. White
Case: A lawsuit aiming to reveal public records regarding dismissed claims of election improprieties.
Jurisdiction: Albany County District Court
Status: Settled, with the public records released despite elected officials’ attempt to block it. Shortly after the 2024 Primary Election, Albany County Republican Party State Committeeman Mark Armstrong filed a criminal complaint alleging election irregularities. A subsequent investigation by Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans found those allegations to be “false.” Armstrong sued for the release of video footage of the ballot counting room, which he claimed would back up his allegations. Both Appelhans and Albany County Clerk Kayla White resisted that request. According to court documents, “Both testified production of the videos would reveal internal security measures put in place by the county and should be exempt from disclosure.” In January, the court ordered White to release the records, which she did. In a February filing, Armstrong attempted to collect “around $10,000 in attorney fees and $228 in court costs” he claimed to have spent in pursuing the matter. The court rejected this request. Throughout the criminal investigation and records request tussle, Armstrong was represented by attorney Walter Clapp. In March, Armstrong filed another motion, this time representing himself, for a reconsideration of the court’s decision not to reimburse his attorney’s fees. The court denied this request.
Westenbroek, et al. v. Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity, et al.
Case: The lawsuit to remove a transgender student from a University of Wyoming sorority.
Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court of Wyoming
Status: Ongoing, with some significant recent developments. In 2023, six members of Kappa Kappa Gamma’s UW chapter sued their national organization, seeking the removal of a trans sister inducted the previous fall as well as a total prohibition on trans women joining Kappa nationwide. The plaintiffs lost their case in U.S. District Court, and an appeal to the 10th Circuit Court was rejected. But some of the plaintiffs have refiled their lawsuit, doing so on the last possible day after months of inaction. The original suit named Artemis Langford, the transgender student, as a defendant. The refiled suit does not. This effectively granted Langford’s request to be let go from the affair — an affair which has thrust her into the national spotlight. The original lawsuit included numerous allegations about Langford, unconnected to specific claims, which U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson called irrelevant and “unsubstantiated” in his initial dismissal of the case. The refiled suit deletes these allegations. The national sorority organization has asked the court for a dismissal “to put an end to plaintiffs’ attempts to use this court to advance their preferred social agenda.” The case garnered national attention, and the Trump Administration has announced it will investigate UW over its trans-inclusive sorority.
Langford v. Law Office of John G. Knepper, LLC, et al.
Case: Langford’s own lawsuit, alleging the lawyers behind the federal sorority case bullied her to gain media attention.
Jurisdiction: Laramie County District Court
Status: Ongoing, and possibly going to trial. As the federal lawsuit detailed above moved through federal courts, the plaintiffs and their legal counsel made appearances on national media outlets, mocking Langford’s appearance and grades to a national audience. According to the lawsuit, they “attempted to paint Ms. Langford as a sexual deviant who had joined a transgender-friendly sorority simply to gain access to women.” Langford’s suit alleges this was part of a ploy “to drive donations” to a legal fund. The lawyers Langford is suing asked the court to dismiss the case. The court denied that request, allowing the process to proceed. That means it could go to trial, but such an outcome is not set in stone and the lawsuit could be settled or otherwise resolved before reaching such a point.
Green Room, et al. v. State of Wyoming, et al.
Case: The lawsuit to save Delta-8 brought by hemp shops across Wyoming.
Jurisdiction: U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
Status: Awaiting final ruling on appeal. In 2024, the state of Wyoming outlawed Delta-8, a marijuana substitute that had been legalized federally about five years before. The plaintiffs, a coalition of hemp shops and one producer, argued the state had no right to restrict their sale of Delta-8. Wyoming’s lawyers argued the state could. The U.S. District Court of Wyoming sided with the state, ruling against the hemp shops and declining to relegalize delta-8. The hemp coalition appealed to the 10th Circuit and both parties engaged in oral arguments earlier this month. They now await a final ruling on that appeal. In the meantime, Delta-8 remains a prohibited substance.
Lesley v. Bennett, et al. and Lesley v. Campbell County, et al.
Case: A pair of lawsuits brought by a former Wyoming library director, who was fired in 2023 after defending LGBTQ+ books
Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court of Wyoming
Status: Ongoing simultaneously. The Campbell County Library Board fired its long-time director, Terri Lesley, in 2023. The ouster came after Lesley refused to remove books geared toward children and teens that addressed sexuality in some way, including books featuring LGBTQ+ characters or tailored for LGBTQ+ youth. Lesley claims, in two separate lawsuits, that her removal represents a wrongful termination and that she was discriminated against. In one lawsuit, Lesley is challenging a local family that allegedly spearheaded a prominent and public campaign against her. That lawsuit has been allowed to proceed and the family has filed a response denying the former librarian’s allegations. In the other suit, Lesley is challenging the government officials who removed her from her post or who failed to stop her removal. In that lawsuit, Lesley alleges the library board, and the county commissioners above them, violated her free speech rights. The defendants have yet to file responses.
Johnson, et al. v. State of Wyoming, et al.
Case: The lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s surgical and chemical abortion bans.
Jurisdiction: Wyoming Supreme Court
Status: Awaiting final ruling on appeal. Wyoming passed two abortion bans during the 2023 Legislative Session, one prohibiting nearly all surgical abortions, another prohibiting all chemical or medication abortions. Both were immediately challenged in Teton County District Court by abortion providers and abortion access activists. Both were blocked from going into effect while the case played out. In their lawsuit against the state, the plaintiffs argued that the bans infringe on each Wyomingite’s constitutional right to “make his or her own health decisions.” The state countered that abortion is not healthcare and therefore is not protected by that constitutional language. District Court Judge Melissa Owens ultimately sided with the plaintiffs, striking down the abortion bans. “The Court concludes that the Abortion Statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of a pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people,” Owens wrote in the ruling. The state has appealed the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court, which is currently mulling the same questions posed in Teton County. In the meantime, frustrated by their losses in the legal system, the Freedom Caucus is now seeking to reform the courts.
State of Kansas, et al. v. United States Department of Education, et al.
Case: A dispute about federal protections for transgender students carried over from a battle with Biden’s Department of Education.
Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court of Kansas
Status: Technically ongoing but it’s complicated. According to the court, “it appears that there is no longer a live controversy in this case.” Under the previous presidential administration, the Department of Education issued guidance related to Title IX, the federal law mandating gender equality in educational settings. That Biden era guidance interpreted the law’s protections to include transgender students and employees. The state of Wyoming, alongside others, sued the department. At the time, Wyoming Superintendent Megan Degenfelder claimed the lawsuit was meant to protect women and girls, tying the state’s litigation to inaccurate, unsourced claims that trans women, or men pretending to be trans women, imperil cisgender women in bathrooms and locker rooms. In the 2024 election, the United States elected Donald Trump. Trump’s Department of Education has issued new guidance, rejecting the trans protections outlined by Biden’s department. Following the inauguration, the court ordered both parties in this lawsuit to justify its continuance. The plaintiffs, including the state of Wyoming, still want a ruling. Because the old guidance is technically still “on the books,” the plaintiffs argue they “can obtain meaningful and lasting relief through this litigation” — especially if it fully throws out the guidance, blocking future administrations from interpreting Title IX the same way. The defendants, including the federal education department, agree that the case is not yet “moot,” but are open to a more open-ended conclusion to the issue. “Defendants have no objection to the Court’s denying the pending cross-motions without prejudice to refiling,” they write. The parties filed a joint status report June 25 reiterating they would like the court to reach a decision, but will wait until related cases in other states are more fully resolved and go from there.
Et cetera …
This rundown could not cover every case of importance to Wyoming.
Luckily, WyoFile has the latest on the infamous “corner-crossing” case, as well as the latest on a lawsuit challenging Wyoming’s Voter ID law, The Powell Tribune has the latest on the two-year battle to stop a Mormon Temple being built in Cody, and NBC News has the latest on a class action lawsuit against a facility for troubled teens in northwest Wyoming.
Thanks for this update! I am always excited when I see trust fund Mark Armstrong waste more money pursuing stupid conspiracy theories.
I really do not understand why the delta-8 hemp lawsuit is still proceeding since Wyoming legalized THC in consumer products as long as it is 0.3% dry weight on July 1, 2024 when SF0032 became law? https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2024/SF0032
Another excellent article! Thank you for taking the time to list and summarize these legal proceedings. Thanks, also, for links to additional information provided by other Wyoming news organizations. Words alone cannot express how very much I appreciate your reporting on the issues affecting Laramie and our state.