Articles
Ninth Circuit affirms prison for man who built ponds without permit
The Ninth Circuit issued a disappointing decision affirming the federal conviction of a Montana man for building some ponds without a Clean Water Act permit. … ...
Articles
Ninth Circuit poses tough questions to government in Robertson argument
Today’s Ninth Circuit oral argument in U.S. v. Robertson produced an interesting series of exchanges between the Justice Department appellate attorney and Ninth Circuit Judges Gould and McKeown. A key issue in the case, as I laid out in this morning’s post, is whether the Clean Water Act’s counter-intuitive definition of “na ...
Articles
Ninth Circuit hears appeal from elderly man jailed for building ponds
Today the Ninth Circuit is hearing oral argument in U.S. v. Robertson. Joseph Robertson is presently incarcerated in federal prison in Colorado, serving an 18 month sentence for building two ponds on land owned by the Forest Service in Montana. He is 78 years old. One of the counts for which Mr. Robertson was imprisoned … ...