The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the Trump administration’s bid to shut down Juliana v. United States, a landmark court challenge by 21 youth plaintiffs aimed at forcing government action on climate change.
“Rejecting a Trump administration request, the high court let the case proceed toward a trial that’s scheduled for later this year,” Bloomberg reports. “The justices’ order said the administration’s request was premature,” though they called the breadth of the lawsuit’s claims “striking” and said the question of whether they can be decided by a court “presents substantial grounds for difference of opinion.”
Trump’s lawyers faulted District Court judge Ann Aiken for allowing the case to proceed, claiming 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.” Our Children’s Trust, the legal team representing the youth, responded that “the harm to the climate system threatens the very foundation of life, including the personal security, liberties, and property” of the 21 plaintiffs.
The trial begins October 29, and Our Children’s Trust is fundraising for the legal work to be completed by then.
