Legal matters of maritime concern in Hawaii, Oceania, and beyond.
ABCNews is reporting about the State of Hawaii's letter to the Navy regarding sonar use in coastal waters. See my earlier post here.
Upon receipt of the State's letter, ABC reports that the Navy replied: "These conditions create a significant conflict with the Navy's obligations under U.S. federal law that the Navy provide trained…
Busy week in environmental concerns of the Navy's sonar use in coastal waters. Maui News reports that the State of Hawaii's Office of Planning advised the Navy of its preferences for sonar use during the upcoming RIMPAC exercises off the Hawaiian Islands.
Litigation related to these exercises recently concluded with Judge Ezra enjoining aspects of…
The government has filed a Motion seeking an earlier hearing date for the Winter v. NRDC case regarding the Navy's use of sonar off the coast of California.
The government is trying to avoid having the oral argument too late into the October 2008 term, with circumstances overcoming the Court's opportunity to decide the case by…
Bloggers and mainstream media are abuzz about the Supreme Court's decision in the Exxon Shipping v. Baker case, posted here. These are some of the articles/posts.
Drug and Device Law Blog: http://druganddevicelaw.blogspot.com/2008/06/exxon-valdez-punitive-damages-award.html.
San Francisco Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/06/25/national/w071122D89.DTL&feed=rss.news
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Scotus-Exxon-Valdez.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-valdez26-2008jun26,0,3673626.story
American Constitution Society:
http://www.acsblog.org/news-and-announcements-four-more-decisions.html
Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSWBT00926720080625
Bloomberg: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aj1YbOuNs.cs&refer=home
NPR (real media
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker case, posted earlier here.
There were three issues on appeal: 1) does general maritime law allow for corporate liability for punitive damages based on the acts of managerial agents; 2) does the Clean Water Act preempt punitive damages awards in…
The New York Times has an informative article on the California Sonar case, posted earlier here.
Tangentially, NOAA is seeking public input on the Navy's use of sonar in Hawaii's waters, here.
Per NOAA's press release:
NOAA’s Fisheries Service does not expect the exercises to result in serious injury or death to marine mammals…
The California sonar case, posted earlier here, is going to the Supreme Court according to news reports. Supreme Court website confirms.
This case presents a conflux of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Constitutional deference afforded to Executive Branch decisions relating…
The California Sonar case, Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council (posted here, here, and here) may be bound for the Supreme Court.
The United States has filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari seeking relief from adverse rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The opinion below is here…
Can a federal agency's failure to act, pursuant to its statutory authorities, constitute "agency action" under the Endangered Species Act, thereby triggering the agency's duty to consult?
This seems to be the threshold question to resolve in a recent lawsuit filed in California federal court. A California environmental group filed suit seeking an injunction against…
Together with my colleagues, Robert Thomas and Christi-Anne Kudo Chock, we filed an amicus brief on behalf of Hawaii's Ocean Tourism Coalition in support of the Petition a Writ of Certiorari that UFO Chuting filed in the case of UFO Chuting, Inc. v. Smith. My original post is here. The Ninth Circuit opinion is here…
