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Judge to issue decision later in lawsuit between CBJ & cruise ship association

September 18, 2018 – News

Federal District Court Judge H. Russel Holland held a hearing this morning in Juneau related to the lawsuit between the City and Borough of Juneau and the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). Due to the complexity of the case, the judge is taking the case under advisement and will issue a decision later.

The lawsuit started in the spring of 2016 when CLIA alleged CBJ was unconstitutionally spending fees collected from cruise ship passengers. CBJ denied the allegations. CBJ believes it has spent passenger fees in a constitutional manner. Over the past two years, the parties have engaged in discovery and filed motions to narrow the issues for trial or resolve the lawsuit.

Today, attorneys for both sides argued their positions and responded to questions from Judge Holland. CLIA argued that passenger fees can only be used for projects that physically touch and solely benefit the vessel. CLIA also argued that passenger fees cannot be used for services that benefit the cruise ship passengers. CBJ disagreed and reiterated that the U.S. Constitution allows passenger fees to be used when they benefit the vessel or the passengers, like docks for the cruise ships, restrooms on or near the docks, crossing guards downtown, emergency ambulance services, as examples.

Following oral arguments this morning, Judge Holland didn’t make any decision on the matter. He said he would take the case under advisement, suggesting it would take a while to issue a decision because of the complexity of the case.

For more information, contact CBJ Municipal Attorney Robert Palmer at 586-0909 or [email protected]. For background documents, please go here.