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Title: NM cockfighters file $77M lawsuit in federal court Post by: MuffyBee on May 13, 2009, 04:48:51 PM NM cockfighters file $77M lawsuit in federal court
May 13, 4:27 PM EDT By TIM KORTE ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- New Mexico cockfighters have filed a federal lawsuit seeking $77 million, claiming their civil rights were violated in the state's enforcement of a 2007 law banning the bloodsport. The class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces. It challenges whether authorities had probable cause to make arrests and euthanize roosters during raids at New Mexico farms. State Attorney General Gary King is listed among 11 defendants. His office declined to comment. The cockfighters' latest legal effort comes less than a week after the New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the state law outlawing cockfighting. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COCKFIGHTERS_LAWSUIT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US |