Held v. State of Montana
Our Children’s Trust has represented young people in Montana legal actions since 2011, most recently in the youth-led constitutional climate lawsuit, Held v. State of Montana.
On March 13, 2020, 16 young people from across the state of Montana filed their constitutional climate lawsuit against the state of Montana, asserting that, by supporting a fossil fuel-driven energy system, which is contributing to the climate crisis, Montana is violating their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment; to seek safety, health, and happiness; and to individual dignity and equal protection of the law. The youth plaintiffs also argue that the state’s fossil fuel energy system is degrading and depleting Montana’s constitutionally protected public trust resources, including the atmosphere, rivers and lakes, and fish and wildlife.
The youth plaintiffs are represented by Nate Bellinger, Philip Gregory, Julia Olson, Andrea Rodgers, and David Schwartz with Our Children’s Trust; Melissa Hornbein and Barbara Chillcott with Western Environmental Law Center; and Roger Sullivan with McGarvey Law.
Current Status:
On August 14, in an historic first, Judge Kathy Seeley in the First Judicial District Court of Montana ruled wholly in favor of the 16 youth plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana, declaring that the state of Montana violated the youth’s constitutional rights, including their rights to equal protection, dignity, liberty, health and safety, and public trust, which are all predicated on their right to a clean and healthful environment. The court invalidated as unconstitutional and enjoined Montana laws that promoted fossil fuels and required turning a blind eye to climate change. The court ruled the youth plaintiffs had proven their standing to bring the case by showing significant injuries, the government’s substantial role in causing them, and that a judgment in their favor would change the government’s conduct.
TIMELINE:
The following is a timeline of major moments, filings, and rulings in Held v. State of Montana, from March 2020 to today:
“March 13, 2020: Case Filed
Sixteen Montana youth filed their constitutional climate lawsuit against the state of Montana.”
“February 18, 2021: Oral Arguments
Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs present oral arguments on the state’s motion to dismiss.”
“June 10 and 13, 2022: Attorney General of Montana Files Writ of Supervisory Control and Motion to Stay
The Attorney General for Montana filed two emergency requests on Friday, June 10th and Monday, June 13th, asking the Supreme Court of Montana to take supervisory control of the case away from the trial judge, the Honorable Kathy Seeley, and to issue a stay blocking discovery just as numerous depositions of expert witnesses were scheduled to begin. ”
“June 14, 2022: Montana Supreme Court Denies State’s Efforts to Derail Youth Climate Case
The Supreme Court of Montana denied the State’s writ of supervisory control, and related motion for stay. The Chief Justice and four Associate Justices wrote in their order that the Attorney General’s request was “…at best, disingenuous” and explained that “Supervisory control is an extraordinary remedy” used where a “gross injustice” is occurring. The court rejected the state’s arguments and ruled that the state was attempting to “manufacture urgency or emergency factors to fulfill the necessary criteria to justify a writ of supervisory control.” ”
“June 15, 2022: District Court Grants State More Time to Prepare for Trial
Judge Kathy Seeley granted the State their request for additional time to prepare for trial in response to a motion filed by the Attorney General that claimed that the State did not have “enough time to present” its case nor “conduct the number of depositions required for this case by the current discovery deadline of July 15, 2022.” ”
“October 4, 2022: New Trial Dates Announced
Youth plaintiffs and their attorneys announced that their trial—the first children’s climate trial in U.S. history—will begin on Monday, June 12, 2023, at the First Judicial District Court in Helena, Montana, and will conclude Friday, June 23, 2023.”
“May 12, 2023: Oral Arguments in Helena
Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs presented oral arguments on the state’s motion for summary judgment and motion to partial dismiss for mootness. Defense attorneys requested Judge Seeley dismiss aspects of the case that referred to the former State Energy Policy recently repealed by the legislature. State attorneys also requested more time to prepare legal arguments concerning recent amendments to a law that allows officials to ignore greenhouse gas emissions when approving fossil-fuel projects.
An attorney for the plaintiffs, Philip Gregory, commented that the energy policy was repealed “not because the state has committed to changing its fossil fuel policy and actions, but because the state seeks to avoid standing trial.”
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“May 23, 2023: Judge Denies Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgement, Rules Case to Proceed to Trial
Judge Seeley denied defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment on all claims, finding that “factual disputes are not appropriate for disposition at summary judgment. The Court will find facts after trial.” In a powerful moment of clarity, the court indicated that the young plaintiffs had already provided ample evidence that they were harmed by the State’s actions promoting a fossil fuel-based energy system and that harm appears to be in violation of plaintiff’s fundamental right to a “clean and healthful environment” enshrined in Montana’s constitution.
This order allows all of the young plaintiffs’ constitutional claims to go to trial, including their right to equal protection under the law, the right to seek safety, health, and happiness (often referred to as substantive due process claims), and claims under the public trust doctrine.
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“June 6, 2023: Montana Supreme Court Rejects State’s Writ of Supervisory Control
In a 6-1 decision, the Montana Supreme Court denied the State’s writ of supervisory control, which was filed Monday, June 5, in a final effort by Defendants to avoid trial.
As the Supreme Court noted in its decision: “In this case, the State has provided no reason why the District Court’s ruling cannot be reviewed on appeal, if necessary, pursuant to Rule 6(1). Moreover, trial, with preparation literally years in the making, is set to commence less than a week from now; we are not inclined to disturb the District Court’s schedule at this juncture.”
Despite the state’s last-ditch effort, this first-of-its-kind trial will kick off on June 12, 2023, in Helena, Montana.
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“June 12-20, 2023: Historic Climate Trial Proceedings
Over seven days at the First Judicial District Court in Helena, MT, Judge Kathy Seeley heard from world-renowned experts for the youth plaintiffs on how Montana is experiencing the effects of climate change, how climate change disproportionately impacts the physical and mental health of youth, how Montana’s government has for decades been actively exacerbating the climate crisis in their state, how Montana’s greenhouse gas emissions are substantial and make the climate emergency worse, and more.
The court also heard from the youth plaintiffs themselves, who took the stand to share the devastating ways they have each been impacted by the climate crisis, the ways in which they and their beloved Montana are being harmed by the actions of their own government, and what they need from the court and the state to rectify these harms.
The state of Montana called three witnesses: Christopher Dorrington, Director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); Sonja Nowakowski, Administrator for the Air, Energy, and Mining Division at Montana DEQ; and Dr. Terry Anderson, an economist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and emeritus professor at Montana State University.
Read the press releases from week one and week two of trial.
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“July 5, 2023: Attorneys for Youth Plaintiffs Submit Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
Attorneys for the youth plaintiffs filed their proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. The filing outlines the factual findings Plaintiffs believe the Court should make in the final order based on the testimony presented at trial from the youth Plaintiffs and their experts. The filings also includes proposed legal conclusions that result from the facts established at trial, and details why Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment, to public trust resources, to equal protection, to individual dignity, to physical liberty, and to safety, health, and happiness have all been violated by Defendants’ conduct to promote fossil fuels activities while deliberately ignoring the impacts to the climate and Montana’s youth.
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“August 14, 2023: HISTORIC WIN FOR YOUTH!
In an historic first, Judge Kathy Seeley in the First Judicial District Court of Montana ruled wholly in favor of the 16 youth plaintiffs in Held v. State of Montana, declaring that the state of Montana violated the youth’s constitutional rights, including their rights to equal protection, dignity, liberty, health and safety, and public trust, which are all predicated on their right to a clean and healthful environment. The court invalidated as unconstitutional and enjoined Montana laws that promoted fossil fuels and required turning a blind eye to climate change. The court ruled the youth plaintiffs had proven their standing to bring the case by showing significant injuries, the government’s substantial role in causing them, and that a judgment in their favor would change the government’s conduct.”