Court brief pans citizen suits as assault on executive power

摘要

The Sierra Club's bid to work out a separate side agreement with a Michigan utility over air quality controls unconstitutionally infringes on the powers of the president, two law professors argue in a court filing. The filing also levels a sweeping attack on the legality of the Clean Air Act provision that allows citizens to bring enforcement lawsuits. "The power to prosecute or decline to prosecute public offenses - such as Clean Air Act violations - is a core executive power entrusted exclusively to the president's care," Richard Epstein and Jeremy Rabkin write in a recent friend-of-the-court brief that sides with the Trump administration in urging a federal judge to reject the proposed side deal. "By vesting the ability to enforce punitive laws with any person, citizen suits undermine the president's ability to underenforce oppressive laws, of which there are many," the two men add in citing a report by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a leading foe of environmental regulations.