Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates/United States v. Washington/archive1

Ninth Circuit opinion
Here is a summary of the Ninth Circuit opinion. Note that the first citation is a full-citation, but you may want to change this to a short citation (you cite to the Ninth Circuit opinion in the section about the district court opinion). Feel free to edit any of this as you see fit:


 * After the District Court issued its ruling, both sides submitted appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Washington argued that the district court had no power to invalidate state fishing regulations, while the tribes argued "the state may not regulate their fishing activities at treaty locations for any reason". Writing for a majority of the court, Circuit Court Judge Herbert Choy affirmed Judge Boldt's opinion "in all respects", but clarified that Judge Boldt's "equitable apportionment" of harvestable fish did not apply to "fish caught by non-Washington citizens outside the state's jurisdiction".


 * In his majority opinion, Judge Choy emphasized that states may not enact regulations that are "in conflict with treaties in force between the United States and the Indian nations". Consequently, he concluded that the treaties signed in the 1850s expressly preempted Washington's regulations and that non-indians had "only a limited right to fish at treaty places." Judge Choy also emphasized that the tribes were "entitled to an equitable apportionment of the opportunity to fish in order to safeguard their federal treaty rights" and that the Ninth Circuit should grant the district court a "great amount of discretion as a court of equity" when apportioning rights to fisheries. He held that the district court's apportionment "was well within its discretion," but clarified that tribes were not entitled to compensation for "unanticipated heavy fishing" that occurred off Washington's coast. Judge Choy also clarified that the district court's equitable remedy should attempt to minimize hardships for white reef net fishermen.


 * District court judge James M. Burns, sitting by designation, wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he criticized the "recalcitrance of Washington State officials" in their management of the state's fisheries. Judge Burns argued that Washington's recalcitrance forced Judge Boldt to act as "perpetual fishmaster" and noted that he "deplore[d]" situations in which district court judges are forced to act as "enduring managers of the fisheries, forests, and highways". In his concluding remarks, Judge Burns argued that Washington's responsibility to manage its natural resources "should neither escape notice nor be forgotten."


 * After the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling in the direct appeal, the case was remanded to the district court for further proceedings. Washington submitted an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, but the Supreme Court denied the state's petition for certiorari and subsequent petition for rehearing. Despite these rulings, the parties in the original case continued to litigate issues relating to apportionment of the fisheries and subsequent rulings have been issued as recently as May 2015.

Let me know if you have any questions about this. Best, -- Notecardforfree (talk) 19:12, 5 September 2015 (UTC)


 * One more thought: you may want to make a sub-heading for the paragraph about Judge Burns' decision (titled something like "Concurring opinion of Judge Burns"), and you may want to move the last paragraph to the subsequent developments section, because it is about more than just this specific appeal. -- Notecardforfree (talk) 19:20, 5 September 2015 (UTC)