I tried to Google about this, but I could not find anything. As one this page, there are no serious discussions about this matter. Can you share a reference?
I should have been more clear in my original post:
The precedent is that corner crossing is illegal and fences to enforce that are ok.
I meant to ask: Are fences around your lot of land legal? I would think, yes, to protected livestock against predators. However, it would be trivial to add a small space at the corner for people to do "corner crossing" between checkerboard public lands.
Next, the PDF is a great share. I am feasting on it now! Page 7 reads:
Other than these chained-together signs, there were no posts, fending, or building within one-quarter of a more of the corner.
What a laugh! Thank goodness this kind of behaviour is being overruled!
Another good part (pg7 again):
[T]here is no evidence the Defendants caused any damage to the Plaintiff's property.
On page 9, the photo of A-frame ladder in action is brilliant! The guy looks so hardcore in 100% camo. This is the like the ultimate HN "legal hack". If you position the ladder just right, all four legs will be in public lands.
Regarding you first point - fences around your land are perfectly fine (barring some other law, like an environmental protection law, zoning, whatever).
But it is illegal to block access to federal public lands. So you’d need to have some way through. Doesn’t have to be on the corner, it could be an easement or whatever somewhere else, but access can’t be blocked.
They intentionally did it to block people though, and try to defacto claim the public land as theirs - which is illegal.
Judges make the law in this country due to our common law system. The law from 1885 may say that fencing off legally accessible land is illegal, but according to the land owner the supreme court said corner crossing is illegal so the fence in this situation would not count, because it wasn't blocking legal access. The question that matters here is whether corner crossing is allowed, the fence question follows.
It absolutely is not. Corner crossing was literally illegal right up until this decision came out. Using fences to enforce that was absolutely allowed since the public land was technically not accessible. This is far from the first case about corner crossing, hopefully it will be the last.