Our Children's Trust Update

This article was originally an update piece about the Supreme Court Case Juliana v United States for my reporting I class. However, for a Reporting II assignment, I provided further updates on court proceedings.

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On January 7th 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals accepted the youth plaintiffs’ request to expedite the federal government’s appeal in the U.S. district court case Juliana v US. The plaintiffs seek federal government action to help reduce greenhouse gas and fossil fuel emissions which may have been propelled by federal policy.

Originally filed in 2015 in the US District Court of Oregon, the twenty-one youth plaintiffs (ranging in ages eleven to twenty-two), under the advisory of human-justice and environmental non-profit Our Children’s Trust, accuse the federal government of inaction on climate change despite government knowledge of its increasing harms. The plaintiffs claim this violates their Constitutional rights to life, liberty and property. Since the initial filing, both the Obama and Trump administrations have taken steps to dismiss the case.

The recent decision to expedite the federal government’s appeal comes after the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay (or pause) on the case while reviewing the Trump administration’s writ of mandamus, a petition from an appellate court to a lower circuit court. The Trump administration filed the mandamus in March 2018, citing that they were being denied justice due to court proceedings and that the court is overstepping its judicial powers as this pursuit of environmental policy is of legislative matters and not of judicial duty. The defendants stated that because climate change is an issue that effects every member of society and the causes cannot be traced to a specific action from the federal government, that the case is baseless. While the mandamus review halted further court proceedings, the beginning trial date of October 29th 2018 was cancelled. In solidarity with the plaintiffs, nationwide rallies occurred on what would have been the beginning trial date. In December, a unanimous decision by the Ninth Circuit Court resulted in the denial of the Trump administration’s mandamus petition. Following the mandamus ruling, the Supreme Court decided to lift the temporary stay and allow the case to undergo further court proceedings.

In response to the recent expedited appeal, the Department of Justice argued that given the current government shutdown, they would be unable to provide an earlier brief, however the Ninth Circuit Court denied the DOJ’s argument as well as the Trump administration’s request to stop the expedited process.

Moving forward, the Ninth Circuit Court ordered the Trump administration to submit their opening brief on February 1st and the plaintiffs to file their answer brief on February 22nd. Before a final judgement, the Ninth Circuit Court judges will hold an interlocutory hearing in which legal questions will be appealed before the trial judge makes a final decision on the case.

In the preservation of their rights to life, liberty, and property, the plaintiffs’ goal after the trial is to see the implementation of a “federal Climate Recovery Plan”, according to the Plaintiffs’ website Youthvgov.org. Juliana v US is timely against growing fears globally of the effects of climate change. In October of 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (a United Nations institution providing scientific research for governmental bodies) issued a report detailing the possibility of the dire environmental and economic effects of climate change occurring as soon as the year 2040.