Don't Expect Much

I used to walk past the federal building housing the US Court of Appeals in the Tenderloin to catch my bus to work, and never gave it much thought until my friends came from Alaska a few years back to listen to arguments by Exxon attorneys about why they should be allowed to continue withholding payments to Alaska's fishermen and tribes, devastated by the wreck of the Exxon Valdez. My friends were disappointed by the court's ruling, yet again, in Exxon's favor, but today I notice that the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of environmental and native plaintiffs contesting Shell's bogus permit to drill in the Beaufort Sea. Of course, not long ago the Ninth ruled against Native American sacred sites in the San Francisco Peaks, so on the whole I don't expect much from a bunch of white guys when it comes to protecting indigenous interests, which pretty much goes for the entire Justice Department, especially the US Supreme Court.