*snork* Finally calling a spade a
After two months of delay, federal judges yesterday outlined their reasons for ordering an environmental group known for harassing whaling ships to stay 500 yards away from the vessels.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in December, reversing a lower court ruling.
Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said the order was justified because Sea Shepherd's activities targeting Japanese boats near Antarctica amount to piracy.
"You don't need a peg leg or an eye patch," Kozinski wrote. "When you ram ships; hurl glass containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powered lasers at other ships, you are, without a doubt, a pirate, no matter how high-minded you believe your purpose to be."
Yee-ouch!
Kozinski, writing for the three-judge panel, said the researchers have the proper permits to comply with international whale hunting rules. The court sent the issue back to the district court for a trial and insisted that another judge be assigned to the case.
That's gonna leave a mark.
Love the part of the ruling about assigning it to another judge...
Link goes to the court decision (info in write-up not in publically available source yet).