Layla H. v. Commonwealth of Virginia

The Virginia Supreme Court denied youth plaintiffs’ petition for appeal of an intermediate appellate court’s decision affirming dismissal of their lawsuit alleging that the Commonwealth of Virginia defendants’ permitting of fossil fuel infrastructure caused and contributed to the climate crisis and caused injuries to the plaintiffs in violation of their substantive due process and public trust doctrine rights. The appellate court found that the plaintiffs did not have standing for their substantive due process claim and that sovereign immunity barred the public trust claim. The Supreme Court stated that it was “of the opinion there is no reversible error in the judgment complained of.”