Today, the Court presiding over the Carnival pollution case styled U.S. v. Princess Cruise Lines case no. 16-20897-SEITZ scheduled a status conference for May 24th at which time the Court will schedule the exact date, during the week of June 17, 2019, when the revocation hearing will begin.

The Court previously entered an order of probation after Carnival Corp. pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts of widespread pollution crimes, as well as conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Currently pending before the Court is the Office of Probation’s motion to revoke the cruise company’s probation.  Based on reports from the Court Appointed Monitor, outlining ongoing pollution by Carnival-owned cruise ships, the Court will decide next month whether Carnival broke the terms of the probation and what sanctions are appropriate.

The Court indicated that the parties should be prepared to address:a certain issues at the status conference:

  1. The number of witnesses each side intends to put on. who the witnesses are, and how long each one will take to testify;
  2. The number and nature of the exhibits each party intends to.use; and
  3. How long will be needed to complete the revocation hearing.

You can read the order scheduling the status conference here.

As reported by the Miami Herald, Carnival Corp. has continued to engage in a “pattern of illegal behavior” during its first of five years on probation. You can read the Court Appointed Monitor’s reports below:

Last month, Judge Seitz expressed her displeasure over Carnival’s continued pollution. She reprimanded Carnival Corp.’s chairman, Micky Arison, and its president Arnold Donald, stating that she regretted not being able to send the executives to a few days in detention. She stated that “the people at the top are treating this as a gnat. . . ”

Judge Seitz stated that she will rule next month on whether Carnival Corp.’s behavior warrants the revocation of its probation. She characterized her previous sanction of $40,000,000 as a “drop in the bucket.”  She also  threatened to block the company from docking its one hundred cruise ships at U.S. ports.

In an informal poll a week ago, two-thirds of those responding chose sanctions of $250,000,000 or more, or jail time for the executives, or both, to punish Carnival Corp. for its ongoing pollution and violation of its terms of probation. Carnival Corp. collected over $3,200,000,000 tax-free in 2018.

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Photo credit: Carnival Headquarters Miami – Coolcaesar at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons/wikimedia; Princess Headquarters Santa Clarita – Coolcaesar – CC BY-SA 3.0, commons/wikimedia.