Legal News

Justice Dept. for Supreme Court review of Navy sonar restriction in California

By Jason Siegel

The Department of Justice filed a petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision, which limited the Navy's use of sonar off California's coast because of it harm to marine mammals, KPBS News reported.

The petition reiterated the points made by the Navy in the suit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council - namely, placing a limit on the Navy's use of sonar affects U.S. national security and their ability to train people.

U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled in January that the Navy's plan to limit the harm done to whales and other marine animals from sonar exposure was inadequate. The Los Angeles judge filed an injunction creating a 12 nautical mile no-sonar zone off Southern California and order the Navy to shut off sonar use within 2,200 yards of a marine mammal, according to the Daily News.

The 9th Circuit's ruling, upholding Cooper's decision,  sets a precedent for federal courts in California and eight other Western states, the SF Chronicle reported. A federal judge in Hawai'i similarly restricted Navy sonar exercises off in February.
 

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 02, 2008 (boomark / email).