Weinberger v. Catholic Action of Hawaii
United States Supreme Court
454 U.S. 139 (1981)
- Written by Darius Dehghan, JD
Facts
The United States Navy (the Navy) (defendant) sought to store weapons at its West Loch facility in Hawaii. This facility was capable of storing nuclear weapons. However, for national-security reasons, the Navy was prohibited from publicly disclosing whether it proposed to store nuclear weapons at West Loch. Catholic Action of Hawaii (Catholic Action) (plaintiff) brought suit, contending that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) required the Navy to prepare an environmental-impact statement discussing the environmental consequences of nuclear-weapons storage at West Loch. The district court ruled that the Navy was not required to prepare an environmental-impact statement under NEPA. The court of appeals reversed, holding that the Navy must prepare an environmental-impact statement. The Navy appealed to the United States Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rehnquist, J.)
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