Legal matters of maritime concern in Hawaii, Oceania, and beyond.
Found an interesting case recently relating to Fairbanks Morse diesel engines on several Navy ships. The United States, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency, brought suit against Coltec Industries for violations of the Clean Air Act. The complaint can be downloaded here – US v. Coltec Industries, et al .
The government alleges that pursuant to the Clean …
Freedom of Information Act cases reach the Supreme Court about once every 15 years. Milner v. Dep't of Navy is an interesting case that pits the Navy's desire for security of its bases against the public's statutory right to disclosure of government documents, bundled up with the post-9/11 desire to ensure local responders (without federal security clearances) have the information they need to respond to natural and man-made disasters.
Oral argument was earlier this week. The transcript is here. My earlier posts on this case can be found here.
The FOIA exemption at issues is remarkably innocuous:
5 U.S.C. § 552(b) of the Freedom of Information Act ("Exemption 2") provides in pertinent part:
(b) This section [providing for public access to government documents] does not apply to matters that are:
(2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.
New Ninth Circuit case on the governmental contractor defense. It is Rodriguez v. Lockheed Martin, and can be downloaded here.
During military training on the island of Hawaii, one soldier was killed and another two soldiers were injured by an explosion in the 81mm mortar they were firing. The widow and survivors brought suit…
How can you make a Defendant change its position, but lose a lawsuit? Sue the federal government.
A new case from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It isn’t an admiralty case, but is an interesting case relating to intra-governmental disputes and civil remedies. The case is American Cargo Transport, Inc. v. U.S.A, and the original…
