Youth Climate Plaintiffs Rally Outside The White House Demanding US Government Face Trial In Juliana v. US

On the eve of Earth Day, young climate activists who are taking governments to court over the climate crisis in the US assembled in front of the White House in Washington DC to send a clear message to US President Joe Biden and his administration’s Department of Justice: “We will not be silenced!”

Several of the youth plaintiffs from the landmark constitutional climate case Juliana v. United States came together with youth plaintiffs in other US rights-based climate lawsuits, including the Held v. State of Montana case that won a historic victory last year, to demand that President Biden allow the Juliana case to proceed to trial. The case has faced unprecedented attempts by government lawyers in the US Department of Justice to terminate it and prevent any evidence and testimony from being heard at trial, and DOJ under the Biden administration is continuing this relentless obstruction that some legal experts say is an abuse of power. In February the DOJ filed an extreme emergency petition called a writ of mandamus to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals – its seventh such petition in this case over the past nine years – in a last-ditch effort to bypass the normal course of civil litigation procedure and avoid facing evidence and real accountability at trial. In response, the 21 Juliana plaintiffs, their attorneys, and supporters are amplifying calls to let “America’s climate case” go to trial and let youth voices be heard in open court.

Sunday’s rally was a key demonstration of that, along with more than 70,000 emails sent to President Biden and his administration in recent weeks and petitions with over 300,000 signatures delivered to the White House and Department of Justice. At the start of the “Save Juliana” rally, youth plaintiffs from Juliana and several other climate cases, all spearheaded by the Oregon-based nonprofit law firm Our Children’s Trust, stood behind a giant banner and donned cloth gags to protest their attempted silencing by the US government.

“For almost nine years, the Juliana plaintiffs have tirelessly fought to have their day in court. They have endured extreme legal tactics from across three presidential administrations aimed at silencing their voices and preventing their case from being heard at trial,” Mat dos Santos, co-executive director of Our Children’s Trust, said during the demonstration.

“No other case in the history of this country has faced this level of government persecution. And out of the more than 40,000 cases in front of the DOJ, these extreme legal tactics have been used in only one case – Juliana v. United States,” said Isaac Vergun, one of several Juliana plaintiffs who took part in Sunday’s rally. “Lives are at stake here. Futures are at stake here. And the government continues to try to stop our case from being heard. I am outraged, and you should be too!” Vergun, speaking out on his 22nd birthday, said he will “continue to fight for my future and the future of all generations.”

Initially filed in 2015, the Juliana v. US youth climate lawsuit alleges that the federal government is violating young people’s fundamental rights under the US Constitution through systemic actions and policies promoting and perpetuating fossil fuels that are the primary driver of climate destabilization. The climate crisis disproportionately impacts younger generations as its harmful effects worsen over time, and increasingly children, teens and young adults are turning to courts all over the world as the political branches of government fail to take sufficient actions informed by climate science to rein in greenhouse gas emissions and to protect the fundamental rights of youth.

Solidarity from Other Youth Plaintiffs

Last June a youth climate lawsuit filed against the state of Montana went to trial – the first climate trial of its kind in US history – and following the seven-day proceeding featuring testimony from youth plaintiffs and their expert witnesses, Judge Kathy Seeley ruled in August that the state was in fact violating the Montana constitution with its anti-climate policy that prohibited consideration of GHG emissions and climate impacts in the permitting process. Two of the plaintiffs from that case, Held v. State of Montana, which is currently on appeal before the Montana Supreme Court, spoke in support of the Juliana plaintiffs at Sunday’s rally.

“We had our right to a fair trial and that is exactly what Juliana deserves,” said 20-year-old Olivia Vesovich from Missoula, Montana.

“I feel a small bit of relief now knowing that in Montana my rights have been recognized and upheld. The Juliana 21 deserve this too,” added Grace Gibson-Snyder, also 20 years old from Missoula. “After over nine years of fighting for their rights, they deserve their day in court.”

Lead youth plaintiffs from two other climate cases, Layla H. v. Commonwealth of Virginia and Genesis B. v. U.S. EPA, also spoke at the rally expressing solidarity with the Juliana plaintiffs.

“We are all here today because we believe in holding our national and state governments accountable,” said Virginia plaintiff Layla H. “Our lawsuit was filed in 2022. And now we too are facing opposition from a government that does not want us to testify in open court.” The trial court tossed out this case before it could go to trial, and last month the Virginia Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the appeal of that dismissal.

The Genesis case, filed in December 2023 by 18 children in California against the US Environmental Protection Agency, will have a hearing on April 29 in Los Angeles on the government defendants’ motion to dismiss. “On April 29 we will have the opportunity to present oral arguments in Los Angeles to federal district court judge Fitzgerald on why our case should proceed to trial,” lead plaintiff Genesis Butler told supporters during the rally.


Federal Trial Court Judge, 30 Members of Congress Support “America’s Climate Case” Going to Trial

On Friday, April 19, US District Judge Ann Aiken, the trial court judge who has ruled several times that the Juliana case should go to trial, responded to DOJ’s mandamus petition in a filing recommending that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals deny the petition. She explained that the government can raise objections to her decisions in the normal course of appeal after a trial.

“We’re pleased that Judge Aiken told the Ninth Circuit that DOJ is wrong on the law and cannot abuse an emergency procedure to rip this case out of the hands of the trial court. It is long past time for this case to go to trial,” Julia Olson, founder and chief legal counsel for Our Children’s Trust, said in a statement responding to the filing.

More than two dozen members of Congress submitted an amicus brief in late March also urging the Ninth Circuit Court to reject DOJ’s petition. “Given the overwhelming evidence in the record that Defendants’ conduct perpetuates the present climate change crisis, the Court has a duty to assess the constitutionality of the government’s conduct,” the brief argues. Denying the mandamus petition, the Congressional brief concludes, “would grant these Youth Plaintiffs an opportunity to present their evidence, to secure their constitutional rights, and to save their Nation.”