When Trees Have Standing
My favorite jurisprudence is Sierra Club vs. Morton, US Supreme Court in 1972.Justice Douglas had a dissenting opinion that environmental issues should be able to be litigated before courts in the name of the inanimate object about to be spoilt by roads or bulldozers and such, which causes public outrage. He is basically saying that humans don't need to have suffered any damage to sue. He is basically saying that trees have rights too.
But my favorite part about this case is where one of the attorney's for the plaintiff (who won), made a whimsical reply to Justice Douglas:
"If Justice Douglas has his way
O come not that dreadful day
We'll be sued by lakes and hills,
Seeking a redress of ills.
Great mountain peaks of name prestigious,
Suddenly become litigious.
Our brooks will babble in the courts,
Seeking damages for torts.
How can I rest beneath a tree,
If it may soon be suing me?
Or enjoy the playful porpoise,
While it's seeking habeas corpus?
Every beast within his paws
Will clutch an order to show cause.
The courts, besieged on every hand,
Will crowd with suits by chunks of land.
Ah! But vengeance will be sweet,
Since this must be a two-way street.
I'll promptly sue my neighbor's tree,
For shedding all its leaves on me."
:)
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