Governing from the bench.
Via Helena IR:
A federal judge ordered Idaho and Wyoming to stall their first grizzly hunts in decades for 14 days after a lengthy hearing on removing the bears’ Endangered Species Act protections.
U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen released the temporary restraining order at 5:05 p.m. Thursday. The hunts were to start on Saturday morning.
“We’re gratified the grizzly trophy hunt will not proceed this weekend,” Wildearth Guardians attorney Bethany Cotton said on Thursday. “We have restored hope for grizzlies’ recovery across their range.”
Christensen heard four hours of argument on Thursday morning, raising more than 40 issues regarding the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s ending of ESA protection of grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The hearing ended on an unscripted note when the attorney for Wyoming offered to delay the hunt, and delisting challengers announcing they might file last-minute injunction requests to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Last May, Christensen had asked both sides to not file intermediate motions before Thursday’s hearing, so he could have the whole case presented without technical distractions. When he observed that the oral arguments would take place right before Wyoming and Idaho launched their first grizzly hunts in more than 40 years, many assumed that meant he might rule from the bench on Thursday.
“I find focused oral argument is of great assistance to making my decision,” Christensen told the packed courtroom at the start of the hearing. “It helps me clarify and confirm my thinking and it can change my thinking.
“To issue a decision from the bench would indicate I had already made up my mind. I give you my assurance this matter will have my full attention. When we’re done this morning, I will get my opinion out expeditiously.’”
But three hours after the hearing ended, Christensen granted a temporary restraining order. In a five-page opinion, Christensen noted the federal government hadn’t had its chance to reply, but he was stopping the hunt anyway.