Case library · Whose Waters?
Trained Not to Leave
United States v. Mitchell (1977)
Charge: Marine Mammal Protection Act (take abroad)Court: U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th CircuitState: FloridaDocket: Whose Waters?
Does a national ban on taking marine mammals reach a citizen acting inside another country's own coastal waters?
The facts
An aquarium in a foreign country hired the Defendant to catch live dolphins for its tanks. Over several months he took twenty-one of them from that country's own coastal waters, paid for each animal. That government had granted him a permit for the work. His home country's law declares a halt to the taking of marine mammals; he sought no permit under it, on advice it did not reach him there.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: United States v. Mitchell, 553 F.2d 996 (5th Cir. 1977)
Read more at openjurist.org. The source reveals the outcome.