Sea Shepherd whale activists called pirates, lose ruling by 9th Circuit judges

The Oregonian ^ | February 27, 2013 | Richard Reed

[jazusamo]

The 9th Circus not only labeled Watson and thugs pirates but removed the federal judge from the case, the 9th Circus got one right.

[Colonel Kangaroo]

It takes a lot of work to be too much for the 9th to stomach.

[COBOL2Java]

I’d like to see the Sea Shepherd take on a Russian ship. Just once. That’s all it would take. I suspect we’d never hear about the Sea Shepherd again.

[History Repeats]

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.

[B.O. Plenty]

Looks like to me a bunch of pirates going after a bunch of liers...Research my ass.

...what the law should do is STF out of this mess. Either the Japanese whalers sink the Sea Shephard, or vice versa.

...this will not end until one side is sunk....&...frankly, I don't care which.

[sten]

if i was a whaling ship captain and was tasked with the safety of the ship, crew, mission, and cargo... i would sink them as a severe threat

i might even have hired a crew to provide security for my ship.

they could even board such a ship, seize it, and imprison the crew with thoughts of hanging them

welcome to the high seas

[South40]

"You don't need a peg leg or an eye patch," wrote Chief Judge Alex Kozinski in the majority opinion. "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."

lol!

[Bryan]

The 9th Circuit comes up with some flaky decisions because the first time a case is heard, it's heard by a three-judge panel, not the entire court. Two or three judges on that three-judge panel could be from San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley or Los Angeles and be as nutty as a bowl of granola.

En banc decisions by the 9th Circuit are a little more normal because they're heard by the entire court, which includes several very solid conservatives, including Chief Justice Kozinski, who was appointed by Ronald Reagan. Like Kozinski said, "For better or worse, we are the Court of Appeals for the Hollywood Circuit."

[jazusamo]

Agreed, they’d only do it once with a Russian ship.

The video in the article is of the activist ship Bob Barker getting sandwiched and rammed but sadly the ships opened up too soon:)

[South40]

Looks like to me a bunch of pirates going after a bunch of liers

Perhaps, but there is one major difference. The pirate are breaking the law, the liars are not.

[married21]

Judge Koczinski is a conservative. He came to speak at the Federalist Society at Berkeley when I was in law school there. I used to work with his wife, who had a picture in her office of the two of them, in their 20s, with Ronald Reagan.

[The Iceman Cometh]

How does the 9th District court have juridiction over internationl waters?

[The Iceman Cometh]

How does the 9th District court have juridiction over internationl waters?

[al baby]

It was NOT RAMMED it was brushed big difference

[castlebrew]

Pirates = outside the law...

[jazusamo]

Agreed, this was a unanimous decision of the three judge panel on the ruling which surprised me though one judge dissented on the removal of the lower court judge.

[jazusamo]

I understand the Japanese brought suit against Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherd Society and their home base is Friday Harbor in the Seattle area.

[SandRat]

Now it’s time to teach the Sea Shepherds what comes to Pitates on the high seas, a one way trip to Davy Jone’s Locker.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

They are based in the 9ths district

” The opinion is a blow to Sea Shepherd, registered in Oregon and based in Friday Harbor, Wash.”

[southernerwithanattitude]

I like watching the TV show but I tend to cheer for the Japanese.