U.S. in Contempt Over Gulf Drill Ban, Judge Rules

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...contempt-over-gulf-drill-ban-judge-rules.html

U.S. in Contempt Over Gulf Drill Ban, Judge Rules
By Laurel Brubaker Calkins - Feb 3, 2011 1:53 PM CT

The Obama Administration acted in contempt by continuing its deepwater-drilling moratorium after the policy was struck down, a New Orleans judge ruled.

Interior Department regulators acted with “determined disregard” by lifting and reinstituting a series of policy changes that restricted offshore drilling, following the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, U.S. District Judge, Martin Feldman of New Orleans ruled yesterday.

“Each step the government took following the court’s imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance,” Feldman said in the ruling.
“Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re-imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government’s contempt,” Feldman said.