The 9th Circuit denies mandamus relief to the government which sought interlocutory review of the district court’s denial of the government’s motion to dismiss a suit claiming that government policies exacerbated climate change thereby infringing the minor plaintiffs’ constitutional rights. The government’s petition failed to satisfy the Baumann factors. The government claimed that discovery in the case would be burdensome and create a separation of powers problems, but no discovery had yet been propounded. The district court had not clearly erred as there was no existing 9th Circuit precedent on the alleged claims, and any error could be corrected by an appeal in the normal course. And, an order denying a motion to dismiss posed no risk that the alleged errors would escape judicial review by appeal.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Thomas, C.J.); March 7, 2018; 2018 WL 1178073