The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling today in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.,No. 07-1239, the case about the Navy’s use of mid-frequency active sonar in training exercises off the California coast. The Court vacated the injunction the California district court imposed:
The preliminary injunction is vacated to the extent challenged by theNavy. The balance of equities and the public interest—which were barelyaddressed by the District Court—tip strongly in favor of the Navy. TheNavy’s need to conduct realistic training with active sonar to respondto the threat posed by enemy submarines plainly outweighs the interestsadvanced by the plaintiffs.
Along with my Damon Key colleagues Mark Murakami and Christi-Anne Kudo Chock, and co-counsel Mike Lilly and Ted Meeker, I filed an amicus brief in the case. Our brief set forth the arguments of nine retired Admirals, including a former Chief of Naval Operations,former Commanders of the Pacific (Pearl Harbor) and Seventh(Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean) Fleets, and Commanders of the PacificCommand. The amici Admirals have also commanded Navy battle groups, aircraftcarriers, and surface ships. Also on the brief are the Navy League ofthe United States (and its Honolulu Council), and several othermilitary support groups from California, Hawaii, and other westernstates. The brief is available here. Chief Justice Roberts captured the essence of their argument in his questioning at oral argument last month:
CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I think that’s — I thinkthat’s quite right. My question, though, is that at no point that didthe district judge undertake a balancing of the equities, putting onthe one side the potential for harm to marine mammals thatshe found — and that’s your point about the record — and putting onthe other side the potential that a North Korean diesel electricsubmarine will get within range of Pearl Harbor undetected. Now, Ithink that’s a pretty clear balance. And the district court neverentered — never went into that analysis.
Tr. at 48 (emphasis added). Mark has posted a resource page about the Winter case, with links to all of the briefs and selected media coverage on his hawaiioceanlaw blog here. SCOTUSblog posts analysis here. More after a chance to digest the opinion and dissents.