United States v. Blue Diamond Coal Company, Scotia Coal Company

I cannot agree with either Judge Engel’s or Judge Wiseman’s analysis, therefore I respectfully dissent.

I

Judge Wiseman concludes that the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (“Act”), 30 U.S.C. § 863, eliminated any expectation of privacy Blue Diamond Coal Company (“Blue Diamond”) had in its records. I agree with Judge Engel that this position is incorrect. The Act does authorize inspection of the records by the Mine Enforcement and Safety Administration (“MESA”) inspectors, but the remedy provided by the Act in case of noncompliance is federal district court action. 30 U.S.C. § 818(f). If…