Juliana v. the US, the Climate Case of the Century: When Reality Bites
In her argument, Olson said she knows of no other instance where people suffering personal injury
at the hands of their government are told to go to the polls when a constitutional right is being violated.
The 21 young plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States will mark their six-year anniversary just days from now. They first petitioned the federal District Court for the District of Oregon on August 12, 2015.
Over the past six years, the Juliana plaintiffs have grown in age, under-standing, and stature. The lead plaintiff, Kelsey Juliana, is now 25 years old; Levi Draheim, the youngest, is 14.
Individually and as a group, they’ve now had first-hand experience — perhaps to their chagrin — of the ways of Washington and the federal court system. For the past six years, the case has moved from the trial court to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, onto the US Supreme Court, and back again to the trial court.
The latest effort of the plaintiffs’ attorneys is to get the case back on active status. The recent oral argument to amend their pleadings serves as the jumping-on point of this article. Stay with me a moment as I try to explain Juliana’s latest moves.
