Over the last decade, the Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions significantly eroding the rights of citizens to sue to enforce federal environmental statutes.
On Oct. 12, the Court will hear arguments in another case involving citizen “standing” to sue, Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw Environmental Services Inc., No. 98-822. The Court’s willingness to take this case could signal the justices’ intent to halt, or possibly even reverse, this trend. We can only hope that the Court will stop interfering with Congress’ clear intent to grant citizens access to the courts to protect their interests in a clean environment.
