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Tony Mauro
Legal Times and Law.com Legal Newswire
November 13, 2008
"[T]he Supreme Court on Wednesday[, November 12, 2008] supported the Navy's efforts to free itself from some of the judicially imposed restrictions on its sonar training exercises off the California coast[,] ... in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which had been billed as a test of presidential power to override environmental rules in the interest of national security.
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"[The sharply divided] decision ... included Roberts' 24-page majority, an 11-page partial concurrence and partial dissent by Justice Stephen Breyer, and a 12-page dissent by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The ruling is 6-3 on one holding and 5-4 on others.
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"Navy officials, Roberts said, had attested that the use of sonar 'under realistic conditions during training exercises is of the utmost importance to the Navy and the Nation.' As a result, Roberts said the public interest outweighed the possible damage to marine mammals caused by sonar testing and training.
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"The majority struck down two of the restrictions imposed by the injunction that the Navy had challenged but left the rest intact. The Navy had not sought to overturn the four restrictions and has proceeded with the training exercises under the restrictions -- which include requiring a 'lookout' to monitor the presence of whales and dolphins, and conducting the exercises more than 12 miles off the coastline."
To read the full article, click on the Title Line, above.
For the full text of the Winter opinion, see: Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., -- U.S. --, Docket No. 07-1239 (USSC, 2008)
NOTE: The opinion is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to open, read, or print. For a free downloadable version of Acrobat Reader, go to Adobe.com.
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