Captain Leopold Klatt v. United States of America U.S. Coast Guard

Captain Leopold Klatt was master of a vessel which discharged several gallons of oil while moored at Amorco Wharf in Martinez, California. Although he was without fault, the Coast Guard sought to revoke or suspend Klatt’s license under 46 U.S.C. § 7703 , which provides for suspension or revocation of a mariner’s license if the holder violates or fails to comply with any law intended to protect navigable waters, on the ground that he was the person in charge of a vessel which discharged oil in violation of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1321 . Section 1321 prohibits discharge of oil into navigable waters, and subjects the person in charge of any vessel from which oil is discharged to civil penalties on the basis of strict liability. After an administrative hearing, Klatt was admonished for “his” violation and an admonition was placed in his Coast Guard file.

Klatt claims that the admonition without wrongdoing deprives him of substantive due process and that in any event, the Coast Guard misinterpreted § 7703 because revocation of a license cannot be based on breach of a no-fault statute. The district court dismissed his complaint for lack of ripeness. The government concedes…