Eric Posner in NYT Room For Debate: Citizens Can't Sue Over Laws They Don't Like

Citizens Can't Sue Over Laws They Don't Like

Eric Posner, Kirkland & Ellis Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Arthur and Esther Kane Research Chair, participated in The New York Times' May 24, 2016, Room For Debate discussion on "Can Citizens Sue the Govenment Over Climate Change?"  An excerpt from his response is below; the full column and the other columns in the debate are available here

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The answer is no. Citizens cannot sue the government unless the government causes a “concrete and particularized” harm to them — as opposed to a government action that affects everyone the same.

That’s why citizens can sue the government if the police unlawfully arrest them but not if the government unlawfully arrests other people. And citizens can’t sue the government for enacting laws that they think are bad policy or failing to enact laws that they think are good policy. Ordinary people can also not sue the government for raising (or lowering) taxes, enacting (or repealing) the death penalty or allowing (or forbidding) farmers to use dangerous pesticides.

It is a fantasy to think that courts can take over governance when our political and legislative system fails.

Read more at The New York Times