Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation v. Naples Restaurant Group, LLC

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL No. 23-55469 RIGHTS FOUNDATION, a non-profit corporation, D.C. No. 2:21-cv-09172- Plaintiff-Appellant, MCS-JEM

v.

OPINION

NAPLES RESTAURANT GROUP,

LLC, a California Limited Liability Company; JOHN MORRIS, an individual,

Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Mark C. Scarsi, District Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted May 6, 2024 Pasadena, California

Filed September 18, 2024 2 COASTAL ENVTL. RIGHTS FOUND. V. NAPLES REST. GROUP, LLC

Before: Danielle J. Forrest and Patrick J. Bumatay, Circuit Judges, and James Donato,* District Judge.

Opinion by Judge Bumatay; Dissent by Judge Donato

SUMMARY**

Environmental Law / Mootness

The panel vacated the district court’s judgment after a bench trial in favor of the defendants in a citizen suit under the Clean Water Act and remanded with instructions to the district court to dismiss the case as moot. Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation, an environmental group, sued Naples Restaurant Group, LLC, and its owner…