Biden and the Department of Justice

Juliana became one of the most significant targets of the Trump administration’s “shadow docket,” seeking to have cases decided by the Supreme Court before trial and without factual records. The Biden administration is now the third administration to be defendants in the case. Instead of fighting the youth and the public interest, the Biden administration should change the DOJ’s previous scorched earth approach to Juliana, stand for the constitutional rights of children, and work with the youth to come to a sensible resolution based on technically and economically feasible solutions to the climate crisis. 

The Biden administration and DOJ can remedy this injustice by immediately reversing the unsupported legal position of Trump’s DOJ and recognize that a declaration of constitutional rights is well within the Article III authority of federal courts and the 1934 Declaratory Judgment Act passed by Congress and that such a declaration suffices to establish redressability. 

Judge Aiken wrote in her decision:

“It is a foundational doctrine that when government conduct catastrophically harms American citizens, the judiciary is constitutionally required to perform its independent role and determine whether the challenged conduct, not exclusively committed to any branch by the Constitution, is unconstitutional.” 

President Biden declared that climate change is the “number one issue facing humanity” and that tackling the climate crisis is his top priority. He told children their government will now work for them. Until the courts declare that youth have fundamental rights that the government is infringing by causing climate change, youth and all humanity will face ever more threatening climate chaos. The futures of these youth plaintiffs and of children across the United States and the globe, depend on the President following through on executive orders and policies promising to address climate injustice and the climate crisis. The Biden administration has an urgent and timely opportunity to resolve Plaintiffs’ claims and grant them the justice they seek.