A federal appeals court upheld the constitutional authority Friday of rules protecting the endangered Delta smelt.
The Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit law firm in Sacramento, argued that federal protections for the smelt violate the Constitution because the fish has no link to interstate commerce.
The smelt is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Related federal rules cut Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water exports.
The foundation argued on behalf of San Joaquin Valley farmers. Staff attorney Brandon Middleton said the Supreme Court has previously found that federal rules must amount to a "comprehensive economic regulatory scheme" to satisfy the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Without that connection, Middleton said, "you have to make a demonstration when you do any sort of regulation that the regulation is tied to interstate commerce."
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed. The Supreme Court, it wrote, has never required that connection.
Middleton said the foundation hasn't decided where to take the case next. It could ask all 26 sitting judges of the 9th Circuit to review it, or appeal to the Supreme Court.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Call The Bee's Matt Weiser, (916) 321-1264.
• Read more articles by Matt Weiser
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.