Court of Appeals limits scope of Supreme Court decision and overturns Judge Molloy-
A couple years ago in Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council the U. S. Supreme Court continued its trend toward make it harder to temporarily stop government actions before irreparable harm was done. Applying this viewpoint, Montana federal district Judge Molloy let a timber sale begin and many trees were cut while conservationists were seeking an injunction on the sale so that their arguments could be heard. This made it so if they won, they would not win because the project they sought to halt was completed. Fortunately, in my view, the 9th Circuit overturned Molloy. This will allow citizens to more easily get an injunction if they have strong arguments.
The precedent is not simple, but it does strengthen the hand of those opposing government projects from having their cases made moot by letting government build a powerline or whatever while the powerline, etc. is being litigated.
Appeals Court Rejects U.S. Request for Rehearing in Mont. Timber Case. By Lawrence Hurley of Greenwire. New York Times.
The Wildlife News 