Gibbs v. Babbitt
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
214 F.3d 483 (2000)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
Pursuant to § 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) captured a population of endangered red wolves located in North Carolina and Tennessee, bred them in captivity, and then reintroduced them into the wild on federally-protected refuges. As part of that effort, the FWS enacted 50 C.F.R. § 17.84(c), a regulation that prevented private landowners from harassing, injuring, or killing the wolves if they escaped from the refuges. Approximately 40 of the 75 wolves wandered off the refuges and onto private lands. Charles Gibbs, other North Carolina residents and counties (plaintiffs), filed suit in federal court against Bruce Babbitt, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior, the FWS and others (defendants) challenging the constitutionality of § 17.84(c) and arguing that Congress lacked the authority under the Commerce Clause to protect the wolves found on private land. The district court, on cross-motions for summary judgment, held for defendants and concluded that Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce extended to regulating the endangered, protected wolves found on private land. Plaintiffs appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Wilkinson, C.J.)
Dissent (Luttig, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 778,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
