Ninth Circuit cites VJTL in Sea Shepherd case

Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit cited VJTL in his opinion in Institute of Cetacean Research v. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.  In the case, the court upheld an injunction against Sea Shepherd and ruled that the lower court erred when it dismissed the Institute’s piracy claims against the anti-whaling activist group.

Judge Kozinski used Michael Bahar’s article Attaining Optimal Deterrence at Sea: A Legal and Strategic Theory for Naval Anti-Piracy Operations, which puts forth a theory describing the legal status of pirates.

VJTL will tackle more issues on the high seas soon with Sean Mahard’s note about piracy off the African coast and Lauren Sullivan’s note on dolphin-safe tuna.

Meanwhile, Sea Shepherd and the Institute continue to clash.

Photo source: Biella “Gabriella” Coleman from San Juan, PR ([1]) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons