WP: Federal judges across the West are "fed up" with Bush

[DeepModem Mom]

Bush Policy Irks Judges in West
Rulings Criticize Agencies for Not Protecting the Environment
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 6, 2006; Page A03

SEATTLE, Oct. 5 -- Using language that suggests they are fed up with the Bush administration, federal judges across the West have issued a flurry of rulings in recent weeks, chastising the government for repeated and sometimes willful failure to enforce laws protecting fish, forests, wildlife and clean air.

In decisions in Oregon, California, Montana and Wyoming, judges have criticized the judgment, expertise and, in some cases, integrity of the federal agencies that manage natural resources on public lands.

The rulings come at a time when an emerging bipartisan coalition of western politicians, hunters, anglers and homeowners has joined conservation groups in objecting to the rapid pace and environmental consequences of President Bush's policies for energy extraction on federal land.

Specialists in environmental law cite a noticeable increase in the number of recent court rulings in which federal judges in the West have ruled against the administration, using blunt language that shows impatience and annoyance.

"You are seeing frustration in the federal judiciary," said Dan Rohlf, a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, in Portland, Ore. The law school has the nation's oldest environmental law program. "When judges express that frustration on paper, which is not all that often, they are often reflecting what they see as a systematic effort to get around the law."...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501644.html

[originalpckelly]

1. They keep pissing people off, now it's the gun toters!

They won't survive long if they keep this up. :bounce:

[poverlay]

2. This is just a bit of a swell. When the backlash wave occurs it will

be unlike anything in history...