Thursday, September 06, 2007

A Lesson from the Environmentalists

Environmentalists sued the federal government Wednesday alleging it had failed to regulate emissions from oceangoing vessels that pollute the air and cause respiratory illness around ports nationwide.

So if this ends up working, how about we try the same thing over guns and sue against its failure to stop infringements that cause deaths and injuries nationwide?

If they win, this seems like it will also create a general duty to protect...

3 comments:

boomerstan said...

Do you think environmental lawsuits are effective because of sympathetic judges? If so, are there enough judges sympathetic to the Constitution to justify the cost of the lawsuits you're proposing? If so, are there methods to get these suits into their courts? Can we get an analyst to evaluate this?

David Codrea said...

Dunno, Stan, this is just me blue-skyin' out loud.

I think if DC v Heller goes our way, it might increase our chances for pursuing action based on the doctrine of deliberate indifference.

But I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

boomerstan said...

In my perception, most governmental agencies seem to be very sensitive to avoiding lawsuits from environmentalists, ACLU and other lawsuit generation groups. It would be preferrable if they regarded the gunrights groups(we need a better name) with the same fear. Maybe there's an opportunity here. Many of us are put out with the GOP and might be enticed to donate to a group devoted to picking a few worthy court battles.