United States Ninth Circuit

Section 2737 of the Oil Pollution Act is not an unconstitutional bill of attainder because it does not punish plaintiff, nor is it inconsistent with the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal protection because there is a rational basis for Congress to have concluded that excluding the Exxon Valdez from Prince William Sound would further the legitimate purpose of protecting the Sound's environment from future oil spills.

Appellate Information

• Argued 04/03/2002
• Decided 10/31/2002
• Published 10/31/2002

Judges

• Before D.W. NELSON, THOMPSON and PAEZ, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• E. Edward Bruce,Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, for the plaintiffs-appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Mark B. Stern, Department of Justice, Civil Division, Washington, DC, for the defendants-appellees.