Earth Island Institute v. Brown

POOLE, Circuit Judge:

Appellants Secretary of Commerce, Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, Assistant Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Secretary of the Treasury appeal the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction in favor of plaintiffs Earth Island Institute, the Marine Mammal Fund, and David R. Brower. Because we find the district court lacked jurisdiction to issue such an injunction, we reverse.

I

On April 12,1988, plaintiffs filed suit seeking to require the government to enforce the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), 16…