Who Put Children in Charge?

A liberal judge, of course: Children win right to sue US government on actions causing climate change

Last week, a group of 21 young people, aged 9 to 20 years, won the right to sue the US government for its actions that cause climate change, when an Oregon federal judge ruled that the plaintiffs' lawsuit was valid and could proceed to trial.

According to Motherboard, the lawsuit, which is being spearheaded by Our Children’s Trust, a civic engagement nonprofit for youth, charges President Obama, the fossil fuel industry, and other federal agencies for violating the plantiffs' constitutional right to life, liberty, property, and to vital public trust resources, by continuing to use fossil fuels.

I'm sure they sailed to their press conference in wind powered buses.

The lawsuit was filed in September 2015, and is supported by noted climate scientist James Hansen, who is a co-plaintiff in the case, as guardian for his granddaughter and for future generations. Since last year, lawyers for the defendants from various governmental organizations have attempted to get the case dismissed on various grounds, including the question of whether minors can defend their constitutional rights like adults, as well as asserting that climate change is not caused by humans.

The kids, of course, are being pushed into this by adults.

The judge, US District Judge Ann Aiken, appointed by Bill Clinton, was married to the onetime Chairman of the Democratic Party in Oregon, also precipitated the Malheur occupation when she resentenced two farmers to five years in jail for burning weeds.

On October 7, 2015, Judge Aiken resentenced Dwight L. Hammond and his son Steven D. Hammond to five years in prison with credit for time served for federal arson, the mandatory minimum for that crime. The Hammonds had illegally set fires on their ranch which burned 140 acres of federal land. U.S. District Judge Michael R. Hogan had sentenced the Hammonds to 3 months and 1 year in prison respectively, but Judge Aiken ruled that the minimum sentences must be followed.