Supreme Court refuses to block climate change lawsuit News
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Supreme Court refuses to block climate change lawsuit

US Chief Justice Roberts denied an application Friday to stay a climate change lawsuit against the government.

This reverses a temporary hold of the case, Juliana v. US, ordered by Roberts last month. The government sought to stay the lawsuit until review of a petition for a writ of mandamus ordering the lawsuit dismissed.

The government argued that the standards for a writ of mandamus were met because the litigation was outside the scope of Article III.

Roberts allowed proceedings to move forward because the government still might have adequate relief in the courts.

At this time, however, the Government’s petition for a writ of mandamus does not have a “fair prospect” of success in this Court because adequate relief may be available in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. When mandamus relief is available in the court of appeals, pursuit of that option is ordinarily required.

Juliana v. US is a lawsuit brought by 21 young people and Our Children’s Trust against the government. The group of plaintiffs contend that the federal government has violated due process rights by denying access to a healthy environment and climate.