4 days ago
US appeals court revives challenge to Maine town's cruise passenger limits
BOSTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit alleging that the popular Maine vacation town of Bar Harbor violated the U.S. Constitution by limiting the number of cruise ship passengers that can come ashore to 1,000 per day.
A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that included retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on Monday directed, opens new tab a lower court to reassess whether the town's 2022 ordinance places excessive burdens on interstate commerce.
The panel upheld most of the lower court's decision by U.S. District Judge Lance Walker, including his rejection of arguments that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state cruise ships over local hotels that also offer lodging.
But Chief U.S. Circuit Judge David Barron, writing for the panel, said a separate claim that the law violated the Commerce Clause needed to be reassessed, as Walker did not account for the "substantial magnitude" of the impact the ordinance had on interstate commerce "or the potentially marginal nature of the benefits."
He said that even though Walker's ruling found the ordinance placed a burden on interstate commerce by suppressing tourism and causing cruise ship visits to fall 80% to 90%, the judge deemed the ordinance's impact as "uncertain."
He said Walker also failed to acknowledge the implications the law posed for other jurisdictions in New England and Canada given the interconnected status of the cruise ship industry, and should consider the extent to which the ordinance fulfilled a legitimate local purpose of relieving downtown congestion.
The panel, whose members were all appointed by Democratic presidents, sent the case back to Walker, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, to more fully evaluate whether those burdens were "clearly excessive."
The plaintiffs sued in 2022 soon after the ordinance was passed, arguing it would unduly restrain interstate cruise ship commerce through its restrictions on tourists disembarking to visit Bar Harbor, which is near Acadia National Park.
At the time of its adoption, cruise ship visits had been on the rise, and the ten largest cruise lines had already voluntarily agreed to cap daily passenger disembarkations to 3,800 for five key months of the year.
Timothy Woodcock, a lawyer who argued on behalf of the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods and businesses challenging the law, did not respond to a request for comment, nor did representatives for Bar Harbor.
The case was one of several the 1st Circuit took up in January when Breyer over a two-day period sat as a visiting judge on the appeals court, which he served on before being elevated to the Supreme Court. He retired in 2022.
The case is Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods, et al. v. Town of Bar Harbor, 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 24-1317.
For the plaintiffs: Charles Jonathan Benner of Thompson Coburn and Timothy Woodcock of Eaton Peabody
For Bar Harbor: Jonathan Hunter of Rudman Winchell
Read more:
Retired US Supreme Court Justice Breyer returns to 'old home' to hear appeals
