June 03, 2021Animal Law & Policy ClinicFederal Appeals Court Reverses Failure to Protect Pacific Walrus
Breaking: Clinic amicus brief quoted by judge who today ruled that the Trump administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service improperly denied Endangered Species Act protections to the Pacific walrus.
Breaking: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the Trump administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service improperly denied Endangered Species Act protections to the Pacific walrus.
In April, the Animal Law & Policy Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of six scientists in support of the case by the Center for Biological Diversity challenging the Trump Administration’s refusal to list the Pacific Walrus as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act after failing to adequately consider the deleterious effects of climate change on sea ice in the Arctic, upon which the Walrus depends for essentially all of its life functions.
The amicus brief was drafted by graduates Rebecca Garverman and Ashley Maiolatesi, with support from Clinical Fellow Kate Barnekow. Rebecca was thrilled during oral argument when one of the judges directly quoted from a passage she had drafted, saying it was one of the absolute high points of her time in law school.
Read our original coverage and more on today’s news from the Center for Biological Diversity.