Court won't hear fishermen case against ocean monument
By Patrick Whittle
Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a fishing group that challenged the creation of a large federally protected area in the Atlantic Ocean.
The group sued to try to get rid of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which became the first national ocean monument in the Atlantic when President Barack Obama created it in 2016. The area consists of 5,000 square miles off New England, and it is home to fragile deep-sea corals.
The fishermen sued in federal court saying the establishment of a protected zone where they have historically fished for lobsters and crabs could hurt their livelihoods. Federal district and appellate courts ruled that the monument was created appropriately by Obama, who used the Antiquities Act to establish it.
The high court denied a request to take a look at the case. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the creation of a national monument was "of no small consequence," but the petitioners did not meet the criteria to bring it before the Supreme Court.
Roberts also wrote that the court has never considered how such a large monument can be justified under the Antiquities Act, which President Theodore Roosevelt created more than a century ago to preserve artifacts such as Native American ruins. Roberts wrote it's possible the court could be presented a better opportunity to consider that issue in the future.
"The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument at issue in this case demonstrates how far we have come from indigenous pottery," Roberts wrote.
The fishing group is let down by the court's decision, but also feels that Roberts' statement is a signal for others to bring similar cases, and suggests the high court "will soon resurrect meaningful limits on the President's monument-designation power."
The creation of the monument has been controversial and politicized from the beginning. It became a campaign issue for President Donald Trump, who moved to allow commercial fishing in the area in 2020. Trump heralded the move as a win for Maine lobstermen, although the monument is located southeast of Rhode Island and Cape Cod.
President Joe Biden signaled in January that he would ask the U.S. Department of the Interior to reassess Trump's rule change.
Environmentalists cheered the Supreme Court's decision not to consider the drive against the monument. Conservation groups have for years lobbied to preserve the monument and other protected areas to try to save vulnerable underwater ecosystems.
"Restoring protections is essential to safeguarding its fragile biological resources from industrial exploitation, bolstering the ecosystem's resiliency in the face of a changing climate, and safeguarding this special place for generations to come," Kate Desormeau, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement.
Appeal of murderer studying to be priest declined
By Dave Collins
Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A convicted murderer in Connecticut who says he is studying to become a Roman Catholic priest has lost his legal fight against state prison officials he accused of violating his constitutional rights by blocking his orders of used religious books and other materials.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Jan Gawlik's appeal of a Connecticut Appellate Court ruling, which upheld a state judge's decision that found Gawlik's rights were not violated and he could have ordered new books.
Gawlik, 56, is serving a 60-year prison sentence for killing and dismembering his 90-year-old father, Jozef Gawlik, in New Britain in 2011. He has said he was possessed by Satan and high on cocaine when he killed his father, but has since dedicated his life to God and wants to become a priest.
Representing himself in the court cases, Gawlik argued that prison officials violated his constitutional rights, including freedom of religion, by blocking his orders of used religious books, prayers cards and other materials.
In his application to the Supreme Court to hear his appeal, he described himself as a "self studying future Catholic priest."
Connecticut prisons have a policy that bans inmates from receiving books that are not in "new condition" and requires them to order books directly from publishers, book clubs and bookstores, in an effort to stop contraband from coming into prisons.
Prison officials testified during the lower court trial that it is easier to smuggle drugs, weapons, secret messages and other contraband into prisons via used books, because they often have worn bindings and otherwise can be exploited to hide things.
"We are gratified by the result of this case in which all the judges who examined the department's policies on publications determined that they were constitutionally and legally supported," the state Department of Correction said in a statement. "Used books are vulnerable to modification, hiding contraband, passing messages — all of which present significant safety and security concerns."
Gawlik, who is detained at the Cheshire Correctional Institution, sought to overturn the used book ban in the court cases.
In his application to the Supreme Court, he said he bought used books that are no longer in print from a publisher that specializes in Catholic academic books that include writings not available in modern books. But prison officials blocked him from receiving the books and other materials he ordered.
Gawlik wrote that he "was denied his constitutional rights of religion, speech, freedom of worship as conscience demands, religious literature ... under federal and state constitutions."
Connecticut Judge Steven Ecker said in his ruling that was upheld by the state Appellate Court that prison officials did not bar the materials based on religion, but because of the policy against used books.
"The court is convinced that the items would have received identical treatment had their content related to the New York Yankees, the native birds of Indonesia, or any other subject, religious or non-religious," Ecker said.
