Court Tosses Landmark Global Warming Ruling After Late Recusal - New York Times(global warming news)

Claiming that global warming contributed to the severity of the storm, the plaintiffs sued dozens of the nation's largest polluters — a veritable who's who of utilities, chemical companies and the oil industry. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that the plaintiffs could proceed with their lawsuit, but that ruling is now out of play unless the plaintiffs appeal to the Supreme Court and the justices decide to intervene. The remaining nine voted last year to let the entire court consider the case en banc , vacating the panel's decision, but when an eighth judge recused herself in April, the court no longer had a quorum ( E&ENews PM , April 4). The number of recusals suggests that plaintiffs in the 5th Circuit will get "less than full and fair treatment" in lawsuits against industry, said James May, a Widener University law professor who wrote a brief urging the court to reinstate the panel's decision. Barring Supreme Court review, which is granted in less than 1 percent of cases, the majority's decision would cause the court to "default on its absolute duty to hear and decide an appeal of right properly taken from a final district court judgment," Dennis wrote.

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