Legal matters of maritime concern in Hawaii, Oceania, and beyond.
The Petitioner has filed merits brief in the Stop the Beachfront Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep’t of Environmental Protection, No. 08-11 (cert. granted. June 15, 2009). The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal from the Florida Supreme Court regarding the uncompensated taking of beach lands.
My partner, and fellow blogger, Robert Thomas…
Today, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a Washington federal court’s summary judgment in favor of the Navy in a Freedom of Information Act case.
The Plaintiff submitted a FOIA request for government records relating to the Naval Magazine at Indian Island in Puget Sound. The Navy disclosed about 1000 pages of records but did not release…
From the Maui News: Wow -that was fast, the County Council Economic Development, Agriculture and Recreation Committee approved the proposed ban on shark tours (really a ban on land based activities related to shark tours.
We'll see what the full Council and Mayor have to say about the proposed Ordinance. My earlier post, with…
A bill has been introduced to amend CERCLA to provide grants for the revitalization of waterfront brownfields areas. Hat tip to Captain Bryant for his post.
Bill can be downloaded here.
The bill authorizes grants for redevelopment of brownfields areas in the waterfront area. The program will be spearheaded by the Environmental Prot…
Hawaii's Intermediate Court of Appeals just issued a memorandum decision (not published in a bound reporter) regarding Hawaii's Information Practices Law and the availability of attorney's fees to litigants. The underlying case involved runoff into the ocean, but those issues weren't germane to the decision.
In State of Hawaii v. Earthjustice, pursuant to a…
The L.A. Times is reporting the death of an aviation pioneer in the Coast Guard, retired Captain Bobby Wilks, USCG.
While the news reports recount some of his more daring rescues, he is also notable for his status as the first African-American officer to make the rank of Captain, the first African-American Coast Guard aviator and…
The County of Maui is considering a bill purporting to ban shark tours. KITV reported the story here.
I pulled the bill from Maui County's website.
The text is short, so I have reproduced below:
SECTION 1. Findings and purpose. The Council finds that sharks have been revered throughout Hawaiian history; sharks, called mano
…
An interesting (if you are a civil procedure wonk), and lengthy, admiralty decision was just published by the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
I’m still digesting the opinion in Cooper v. Meridian Yachts, Ltd. From my initial skim, the court ruled that the choice of law provision applied to third-party equitable claims. More to follow.
The Maui News reports that a settlement is near in the litigation related to reef damage near Makena.
Per the article, the State Department of Land and Natural Resources is proposing to reduce the fine sought from a Maui tour boat operator from $542,950 to $130,000. The Board of Land and Natural Resources will consider the…
