ABA Journal

Environmental Law

784 ABA Journal Environmental Law articles.

Vet Detectives

Forensic veterinary investigations are a growing force in animal law, with vets working at the intersection of law and veterinary medicine. On any given case, the scope of the vet’s work runs from crime scene investigations, lab work, animal autopsies and report writing to serving as an expert witness in court.

Animal abuse and domestic violence can go hand in hand

“The tide is definitely changing on the perception of the importance of investigating animal cruelty,” says Martha Smith-Blackmore, president of Forensic Veterinary Investigations in Boston. “Crimes against animals do not exist in a vacuum.”

Failure to euthanize suffering dog isn’t animal cruelty, appeals court rules

An animal cruelty law does not reach a dog owner who ignored a veterinarian’s recommendation to euthanize her suffering, terminally ill dog, the Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled.

Top state court will hear condo board dispute over emotional support dog

For nearly five years, a 70-pound black Labrador mix named Luna has been at the center of a dispute that started in a Camden County, New Jersey, condominium complex in New Jersey and now sits before the state’s highest court.

Montana’s disregard of climate change violates right to clean environment, judge rules

A law that bars the state of Montana from considering the impact of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews violates the constitutional rights of 16 youths who sued over climate change, a state judge in Helena, Montana, has ruled.

DOJ lawsuit against Texas for Rio Grande barriers is based on this law

The United States filed a lawsuit Monday that seeks to force Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove floating barriers that he placed in the Rio Grande River to deter illegal immigration.

ABA will receive United Nations Human Rights Prize for environmental advocacy

The ABA and other members of a global coalition have received the 2023 United Nations Human Rights Prize for their role in advocating for the U.N. General Assembly’s recognition of the right to a healthy environment in 2022.

Lawyer’s RICO suit seeks to force fossil fuel companies to pay for hurricane damage

A small-town Illinois lawyer who once sued oil companies over contaminated land has turned her attention to climate change and the companies allegedly fueling the problem.

Nation’s first youth climate lawsuits to go to trial

Held v. State of Montana is part of a growing trend in climate-related litigation: shifting away from lawsuits targeting specific fossil fuel projects and toward a bigger-picture approach focusing on fundamental rights and broad violations of public trust.

Judge delays 3M ‘forever chemicals’ trial after 3 other companies announce settlement

A federal judge has delayed the trial of a claim that “forever chemicals” made by 3M, a multinational conglomerate corporation, contaminated the municipal water system in Stuart, Florida.

3M faces trial over ‘forever chemicals’ in firefighting foam in ‘bet-the-company’ litigation

3M faces its first trial out of about 4,000 lawsuits claiming that its cancer-linked “forever chemicals” known as PFAs have leached into groundwater.

Supreme Court decision in wetlands case will impair flood control, affect water quality, Kavanaugh warns

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday in its bid to classify an Idaho property as protected wetlands.

Techniques to recover environmental DNA are ‘like catnip’ for law enforcement, law prof says

Wildlife geneticists were able to recover and analyze trace amounts of human DNA lingering in the environment, raising concerns among privacy advocates who think that the tool could be misused.

Seattle settles case involving ‘rights of nature,’ a theory gaining steam in other countries

Last month, the city of Seattle settled a “rights of nature” case pending in the Sauk-Suiattle Tribal Court of Appeals that was filed on behalf of salmon harmed by dams on the Skagit River.

Jackson joins 3 conservative dissenters as Supreme Court upholds California’s pig welfare law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a California law that bans the in-state sale of pork that comes from pigs raised in tiny stalls.

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