Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Nav., et al. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., et al. (555 U.S. 7)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided November 12, 2008 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 555 U.S. 7 · 129 S. Ct. 365
- Decided
- November 12, 2008
- Term
- October Term 2008
- Vote
- 5–4
- Majority author
- Justice Roberts
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court. “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” 1 Messages and Papers of the Presidents 57 (J. Richardson comp. 1897). So said George Washington in his first Annual Address to Congress, 218 years ago. One of the most important ways the Navy prepares for war is through integrated training exercises at sea. These exercises include training in the use of modern sonar to detect and track enemy submarines, something the Navy has done for the past 40 years. The plaintiffs, respondents here, complained that the Navy’s sonar-training program harmed marine mammals, and that the Navy should have prepared an environmental impact statement before commencing its latest round of training exercises. The Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction imposing restrictions on the Navy’s sonar training, even though that court acknowledged that “the record contains no evidence that marine mammals have been harmed” by the Navy’s exercises. 518 F. 3d 658, 696 (CA9 2008). The Court of Appeals was wrong, and its decision is reversed. I The Navy deploys its forces in “strike groups,” which are groups of surface ships, submarines, and aircraft centered around either an aircraft carrier or an amphibious assault ship. App. to Pet. for Cert. 316a-317a (Pet. App.). Seamless coordination among strike-group assets…
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