Metcalf v. Daley, 214 F.3d 1135 (9th Cir. 2000)
Case Summary:
We represented Australians for Animals, The Fund for Animals, and others in a lawsuit against the US Department of Commerce regarding the federal government's promotion and authorization of the Makah Indian Tribe's controversial plan to kill California Gray Whales within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary in northwest Washington state - the first authorized whale hunt in 100 years. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling agreeing with our arguments that the government had approved the whale killing in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, and it ordered the federal government to terminate its whaling agreement with the Makah Tribe and prepare a new analysis of the environmental impacts of the government's plan to authorize whaling in a National Marine Sanctuary.
Plaintiffs: Jack Metcalf, Australians for Animals, Beach Marine Protection, S'tassawood of the Cheaba Family of the Makah Nation, The Fund for Animals, Tim Walsh, Lisa Lamb, Sue Miller, Stephen Dutton, and Deep Sea Charters, Inc.
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit