Court's Reversal Of CWA Conviction Splits Lawyers On Enforcement Impacts

摘要

Private-sector lawyers are at odds on the likely impact of a recent appellate decision that overturned a conviction for an alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violation, with some attorneys raising concerns that it will chill CWA criminal enforcement and others saying the decision is so poorly written that other courts are unlikely to adopt its reasoning.The attorneys also have different views on whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit's March 4 decision in United States v. Lucero sets up a potential circuit split with an earlier 3rd Circuit decision that could lay the groundwork for eventual Supreme Court review of a future case if not this one.