Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to halt climate change case

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the 21 youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, the constitutional climate lawsuit filed against the federal government. The Court denied the Trump administration’s application for stay, preserving the U.S. District Court’s trial start date of October 29, 2018.  The Court also denied the government’s “premature” request to review the case before the district court hears all of the facts that support the youth’s claims at trial.

The Supreme Court’s decision follows the July 20 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, also in favor of the youth, denying the government’s highly unusual second petition for writ of mandamus.

  • Read the full press release here: www.ourchildrenstrust.org/s/20180730-SCOTUS-decision-on-defendants-application-for-stay.pdf
  • Join the youthvgov movement: www.youthvgov.org/join

The high court’s action in the case could be the last official act for Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced last month he would retire effective on Tuesday. Trump has nominated conservative U.S. appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy.

Bloomberg

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt a novel and sweeping lawsuit pressed by children and teenagers seeking to force the federal government to take steps against climate change.

Rejecting a Trump administration request, the high court let the case proceed toward a trial that’s scheduled for later this year. The administration sought to block further progress on the three-year-old Oregon case until a federal trial judge acts on the government’s bid to throw out the lawsuit.

The justices’ order said the administration’s request was premature. The court added that breadth of the lawsuit’s claims was “striking” and the question of whether they can be decided by a court “presents substantial grounds for difference of opinion.” The justices said the trial judge should take those matters into account in considering whether to make a “prompt ruling” on other government efforts to end the lawsuit.

The group of mostly teenagers say government policies have exacerbated global warming in violation of their constitutional rights and those of future generations. They want the government to put in place a plan to phase out carbon emissions and stabilize the Earth’s climate.  

The Trump administration faulted the trial judge for letting the case go forward, saying she had endorsed “a never-before-recognized fundamental right to a particular climate system that lacks any support in the Constitution, this court’s precedents, or this nation’s history and tradition.”

The lawyers pressing the case said the government was trying to short-circuit the usual litigation process. They contended that “the harm to the climate system threatens the very foundation of life, including the personal security, liberties, and property” of the youths involved in the case.

The case is United States v. U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, 18A65.

JULY 30, 2018 Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to put the brakes on a lawsuit filed by young activists who have accused the U.S. government of ignoring the perils of climate change.

In the lawsuit, 21 activists, ages 11 to 22, said federal officials violated their rights to due process under the U.S. Constitution by failing to adequately address carbon pollution such as emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

The lawsuit was filed in 2015 against former President Barack Obama and government agencies in a federal court in Oregon. In a 2016 ruling, a judge allowed the case to proceed, prompting the government to appeal. The Trump administration, inheriting the case, had asked for the lawsuit to be thrown out or put on hold.

The brief unsigned order said the Trump administration’s request was premature. The court did, however, note that the claims made in the ambitious lawsuit are “striking” and the question of whether they can be considered by a jury “presents substantial grounds for difference of opinion.”

As such, the lower court should take those concerns into account in handling the case, the order said.

The high court’s move followed a July 20 decision by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to throw out the lawsuit.

The high court’s action in the case could be the last official act for Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced last month he would retire effective on Tuesday. Trump has nominated conservative U.S. appeals court judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Kennedy.