Comments on: Judge Alsup rules against Oakland, San Francisco climate suits

By: MattS

MattS — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:17:41 +0000

In reply to Steve. Probably not, but hopefully his opinion. though not precedential even in his own district, will have strong persuasive value with the judges in those other courts.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 00:58:28 +0000

In reply to Unsure. Unsure, could the issuance of a comprehensive opinion by a judge who treated the claim seriously discourage would-be other plaintiffs from bringing the same sorts of claims in other courts?

By: Unsure

Unsure — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 14:52:58 +0000

I appreciate that Judge Alsup took the claims seriously and wrote a comprehensive opinion with significant research and citations. But should we take such claims seriously? I was involved in similar-ish litigation (as far as the lawsuit being an obvious political question that should not be in the courts) regarding reparations lawsuits in the Northern District of Illinois. About 15 years ago, a judge there wrote a 100-plus-page opinion granting motion to dismiss, with significant historical research and citations. There, as here, I was conflicted — the significant support to dismissal was positive, but a simple “you can’t sue for that, dummy” would have seemed more appropriate.