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January 11, 2008

Judge threatens jail for Bush official

Judge threatens jail for Bush official

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Montana said Friday he's prepared to hold the U.S. Forest Service in contempt of court for a "duplicitous" strategy of skirting the law so it can keep fighting wildfires with retardant that kills fish.

Judge Donald W. Molloy set a Feb. 26 hearing in U.S. District Court in Missoula to give the Forest Service a chance to convince him that Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey should not be put in jail and fire retardant drops from aircraft be stopped nationwide until the agency properly considers the dangers to the environment.

"The Forest Service, throughout these proceedings, evidenced a strategy of circumventing, rather than complying with," the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, the judge wrote. "The apparent pattern suggests a strategy of looking for ways to avoid the law's mandate as opposed to looking for a means of complying with the law.

Posted by Kevin at January 11, 2008 02:02 PM