Climate Change

Jonathan H. Adler | 9.16.2024 3:50 PM

When last we checked in on Juliana v. United States—the first "kids climate case"—the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had granted the Department of Justice's petition for a writ of mandamus and ordered the case dismissed. As I noted at the time, this order was unsurprising and quite warranted. That should have been the end of the matter—but it wasn't.

Last week, the Juliana plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to vacate the Ninth Circuit's order and thereby revive the case for further proceedings in the district court..

The New York Times reported credulously on the filing, as if it had much legal merit or any realistic possibility of succeeding.

This kind of request to the Supreme Court is unusual, but the plaintiffs supported their position by arguing that the federal government had stymied the process with similar courtroom maneuvers over the years.

"Unusual" is........

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