Constitutional Law

High Court Rules In Favor Of NavyTraining Exercises

In a defeat for environmental groups, the U.S. Supreme Court today  reversed a federal appeals court order barring use of sonar in Navy training exercises in waters off the coast of southern California. The high court in a 5-4 ruling sided with the Bush administration’s assertions that there is insufficient evidence showing that the sonar harms whales, dolphins and sea lions. Writing for the majority in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., found that the injunction against the Navy training must be lifted because the environmental groups had not shown “irreparable injury” to the sea mammals from the military training procedures. Even if irreparable injury had been proven, Roberts wrote that “any such injury is outweighed by the public interest and the Navy’s interest in effective, realistic training of its sailors.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on November 12, 2008 (boomark / email).