District Court Vacates Cypress Creek Town Center (CCTC) Permit

Following on a June 30, 2010 Opinion finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) violated the Clean Water Act in authorizing a massive shopping mall development in Southern Florida (see July 8, 2010 Posting), last week the district Court vacated the CCTC permit, preventing any further development of the mall. Although the Corps and the developer argued that the legal violations were not significant enough to warrant vacatur, the Court disagreed, concluding that “vacatur is appropriate in order to prevent significant harm resulting from keeping the agency’s decision in place.” The Court permitted the developer to continue operating a stormwater discharge system necessary in light of the wetlands destruction that has already occurred, and to complete a road already under construction on the site. A copy of the Court’s Opinion is attached.

Showing Animals Respect and Kindness Victorious in FOIA Lawsuit

Last week we prevailed in a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) suit against the Department of the Interior concerning the withholding of videos depicting the vicious and unlawful killing of a tame black bear by country singer Troy Gentry. The U.S. district court ruled that Gentry had no significant privacy interest in the videos and that plaintiff Showing Animals Respect and Kindness demonstrated a public interest in their disclosure to shed light on the government’s prosecution of Gentry and his co-conspirator under various criminal laws. A copy of the Court’s opinion is here.