WASHINGTON - Whales may simply have to pay the price as the Navy prepares for war, Supreme Court justices suggested Wednesday.
In a closely watched environmental case, justices Wednesday morning repeatedly sounded sympathetic to Pentagon officials who want to run large-scale Navy exercises off the Southern California coast. While the resulting underwater sonar storm disturbs marine mammals, it also helps prepare sailors for combat.
"I thought the whole point of the armed forces was to hurt the environment," Justice Stephen Breyer said, half-jokingly. "Of course they're going to do harm."
The Pentagon and environmentalists disagree over exactly how much mid-frequency active sonar injures marine mammals, and justices Wednesday couldn't resolve the conflict. An apparent majority of justices, though, did appear ready to defer to military expertise in matters of national security.
Justices wrestle with the issues
Chief Justice John Roberts raised the specter of an undetected "North Korean diesel submarine to get [closer] to Pearl Harbor" if sailors couldn't train with sonar, and Justice Samuel Alito asked pointedly if a judge could be considered "an expert on anti-submarine warfare." Alito added that there is "something incredibly odd" about a trial judge making a decision "contrary" to the Navy's requirements.
Even Breyer, who at times has been skeptical about other claims of executive authority, suggested that "an admiral [who] comes along with an affidavit that seems plausible" might outrank a "district judge who just says" the training should stop.
"You're asking us [for a decision], who know little about whales and less about the Navy," Breyer told Los Angeles-based attorney Richard Kendall, who is representing environmental groups.
