Judge Cites ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in Rejecting Bird Policy (1)

An Interior Department policy allowing incidental killings of migratory birds violates federal law, a district court said Tuesday.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York threw out the agency’s 2017 interpretation that unintentional killings and other harm don’t violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) of 1918. That meant companies and individuals wouldn’t face liability for accidentally killing geese, herons, and other birds.

The ruling comes as the Trump administration works to formalize that position through a rulemaking process. But Judge Valerie E. Caproni concluded the 2017 interpretation violates the Administrative Procedure Act and runs counter ...