Fogbow

Orin Kerr
@OrinKerr

Although a lot of caselaw is available online for free from sites like Google Scholar, the
@Harvard_Law @caselawaccess project has posted *all* caselaw from U.S. jurisdictions for free online, including scans of reporters. Check it out here: https://case.law/caselaw/

I know what you're wondering, do they even have Stone v. Boreman, the oldest case on Westlaw, from 1658?

Indeed they do.

Text: https://case.law/caselaw/?reporter=h-mc ... se=0001-01

Scanned reporter, starting at p. 11: https://static.case.law/h-mch/1.pdf

Fossil fuel firms could be tried in US for homicide over climate-related deaths, experts say
Public Citizen, a non-profit group, proposed the idea last year to prosecute companies for millions of deaths due to climate crisis

Dharna Noor
Thu 21 Mar 2024 12.00 CET

Each year, extreme temperatures take 5 million lives, while 400,000 people die from climate-related hunger and disease and scores perish in floods and wildfires.

Now, researchers are promoting a new legal theory that says fossil fuel companies – which, data show, are the leading contributors to planet-heating pollution – could be tried for homicide for climate-related deaths.

The radical idea, first proposed last year by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen, may sound far-fetched, but it’s gaining interest from experts and public officials.

“We’ve been really excited to see the curiosity, interest and support these ideas have garnered from members of the legal community, including from both former and current federal, state and local prosecutors,” said Aaron Regunberg, senior policy counsel with Public Citizen’s climate program.

The Public Citizen researchers are currently holding events at top law schools including Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, University of Chicago and New York University to promote the idea.

“I strongly support the effort to go after these bastards,” Christopher Rabb, a Pennsylvania state representative said at a recent UPenn event. The researchers say other public officials have expressed interest behind the scenes as well.

The proposal, which will soon be published in the Harvard Law Review, stems in part from the growing body of evidence that the fossil fuel industry hid information about the dangers of fossil fuel use from the public. Those revelations have inspired 40 lawsuits alleging big oil has violated tort, product liability and consumer protection laws and engaged in racketeering.

In addition to those civil lawsuits, fossil fuel companies should also face criminal charges, the researchers say.

“Criminal law is how we say what is right and wrong in our society,” said David Arkush, who directs Public Citizen’s climate program and co-authored the paper on the proposal. “I think it’s important that some of the most damaging conduct in human history be squarely recognized and pursued as criminal.”

There are a range of statutes that could criminalize fossil fuel companies’ climate conduct, the researchers say. Many of the civil claims facing oil companies, such as conspiracy and racketeering, have criminal counterparts, and other laws could be used to criminalize conduct that could inflict future harms, such as reckless endangerment. But the claim that could capture the sector’s gravest harms, the researchers say, is homicide.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... hs-lawsuit

SB 2691/HB 2063, sponsored by Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, and Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, passed in the Senate on Monday. The bill has yet to advance in the House.

The bill claims it is "documented the federal government or other entities acting on the federal government's behalf or at the federal government's request may conduct geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere, and those activities may occur within the State of Tennessee," according to the bill.

The legislation would ban the practice in Tennessee.

"The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited," the bill reads.

The bill is scheduled to go to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.

Rolodex wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 12:24 pm it made a white guy feel uncomfortable

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 8:28 pm Have some been speculating that the merger will fall thru and need to adjust their position in the stock?

Rolodex wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 12:24 pm Somebody needs to check the water supply or air ducts in the Tenn state house cuz some crazy molecules are getting in there.

And my state just outlawed DEI programs in state funded schools (it made a white guy feel uncomfortable). It includes a bathroom component (must use rr designated for your gender at birth. i guess you have to carry your birth certificate with you to public bathrooms).

noblepa wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:33 pm Happy Birthday to Captain James Tiberius Kirk. He will be born on this date in Iowa, in the year 2228.

I'd send him a card, but, by 2228, the postage will probably be more than I can afford.
 
Some fan figured this out from hints given in the shows and movies. Don't ask me how.

noblepa wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:33 pm Happy Birthday to Captain James Tiberius Kirk. He will be born on this date in Iowa, in the year 2228.

I'd send him a card, but, by 2228, the postage will probably be more than I can afford.
 
Some fan figured this out from hints given in the shows and movies. Don't ask me how.

"The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited," the bill reads.

keith wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 10:25 pm

"The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited," the bill reads.

1) This bill expressly forbids an orchardist from burning smudge pots in his orchard to avoid frost damage.

2) This bill expressly forbids a farmer to run sprinklers on their crops because this affects temperature and humidity.

northland10 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 9:23 am Happy... Birth...day... To you... James.. t.....Kirk!!!