August 28, 2013 — A federal appeals court in San Francisco refused to block a California law Tuesday that bans the possession and sale of shark fins that are detached from shark bodies.
Two Asian-American groups claim the law, which went fully into effect on July 1, discriminates against Chinese Americans because it prevents them from engaging in the traditional cultural practice of eating shark fin soup at ceremonial occasions.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision in which U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton of Oakland declined to issue a preliminary injunction suspending the ban.
The appeals court said the two groups “presented no persuasive evidence indicating that the California Legislature’s real intent was to discriminate against Chinese Americans rather than to accomplish the law’s stated humanitarian, conservationist and health goals.”
The case now goes back to Hamilton’s court for further proceedings, including a possible full trial on whether there should be a permanent injunction against the law.
Read the full story at the San Francisco Appeal