Description: Lawsuit alleging violation of the public trust by the government and seeking 6% annual reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
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Alec L. v. McCarthy
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/08/2014 Order List Certiorari denied. The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari. 10/03/2014 Petition for Writ of Certiorari Download Petition for writ of certiorari filed. Plaintiffs filed a petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court. They asked the Court
to review the D.C. Circuit’s opinion affirming the dismissal of their action for lack of
subject matter jurisdiction. Petitioners said their certiorari petition raised the questions
of whether the public trust doctrine applies to the federal government and whether
federal courts have -
Alec L. v. McCarthy
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/06/2014 Judgment Download Judgment issued affirming dismissal. In an unpublished opinion, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s 2012 and 2013 orders that dismissed plaintiffs’ lawsuit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because it failed to raise a federal question. Plaintiffs argued that the federal defendants violated their obligation to protect the atmosphere under the public
trust doctrine. The D.C. Circuit, like the district court, ruled that the public trust doctrine is a matter of state law. -
Alec L. v. Jackson
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 06/27/2013 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed. Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the D.C. Circuit for review of the district court decisisons dismissing their action and denying their motion for reconsideration. 05/22/2013 Memorandum Opinion Download Motion for reconsideration denied. On May 22, 2013, the district court denied reconsideration. The court rejected plaintiffs’ arguments that they had not been given an adequate opportunity to address the 2012 Supreme Court decision. The district court further found that plaintiffs’ arguments in the motion for reconsideration merely “repackage[d]” arguments that the
court had already rejected, or attempted to make new arguments that could and should have been raised previously.05/31/2012 Memorandum Opinion Download Memorandum opinion issued. Defendants and intervenors argued in a motion to dismiss that plaintiffs failed to state a federal claim for relief. The district court agreed and dismissed the suit. The court rejected plaintiffs’ federal public trust doctrine claim. Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in PPL Montana, LLC v. Montana, 565 U.S. __, 132 S. Ct. 1213 (2012), the court held that the public trust doctrine is a matter of state, not federal, law. It further held that even if the public trust doctrine were a federal common law claim, such a claim has been displaced in this case by the Clean Air Act (as was similarly held in the 2011 Supreme Court case American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, 131 S. Ct. 2527). 04/02/2012 Order Order issued granting motion for leave to intervene. The court issued a decision allowing business groups to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to require the federal government to establish a plan for an immediate cap on greenhouse gas emissions and start lowering these emissions by 6% a year beginning in 2013. -
Alec L. v. Jackson
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 12/06/2011 Order Order issued transferring action. The court transferred the lawsuit to a federal court in Washington, DC. Federal officials named as defendants in the lawsuit sought a change of venue on grounds that the lawsuit challenged broad, nationwide policies that are prepared by federal agencies in the nation’s capital. 05/04/2011 Complaint Complaint filed. A nonprofit group filed a lawsuit in California federal court (as well as several states) against the federal government, alleging that the public trust doctrine required it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement reforestation programs to fight climate change. The lawsuit is seeking a 6% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions every year, along with widespread global reforestation.