In an historic first, Judge Kathy Seeley in the First Judicial District Court of Montana ruled 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 neglecting their effects on 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. In a 103-page decision, Judge Seeley’s Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order set forth evidentiary and legal precedent for the right of youth to a safe climate.
The youth plaintiffs claimed their lives and liberties were at stake, including their constitutional rights to a clean and healthful environment, to equal protection of the law, to individual dignity, and to safety, health, and happiness – and the responsibility of their state government to cease its actions that exacerbate the climate crisis, degrade Montana’s environment and natural resources, and harm the youth.
The youth plaintiffs in this case did not seek money in their lawsuit. Instead, the ruling declared that state laws prohibiting Montana agencies from considering climate change or greenhouse gas emissions when permitting fossil fuel activities were unconstitutional. The laws declared unconstitutional and enjoined included laws passed during the 2023 legislative session. The legislative and executive branches will now be responsible for conforming their practices around fossil fuels to the judge’s ruling, including the admonition that “[e]very additional ton of GHG emissions exacerbates Plaintiffs’ injuries and risks locking in irreversible climate injuries.”
The State has 60 days to decide whether to appeal the decision to the Montana Supreme Court.
