Rrit of Certiorari

A type of writ, meant for rare use, by which an appellate court decides to review a case at its discretion. The word certiorari comes from Law Latin and means “to be more fully informed.” A writ of certiorari orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it. The U.S. Supreme Court uses certiorari to select most of the cases it hears. The writ of certiorari is a common law writ, which may be abrogated or controlled entirely by statute or court rules.

This is a very important concept in our case, as its one of the legal actions filed by DOJ to try to delay the lawsuit, witch at the current point in time they have sucessfuly done.

Public Trust Doctrine

The principle that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use, and that the government owns and must protect and maintain these resources for the public’s use. For example, under this doctrine, the government holds title to all submerged land under navigable waters. Thus, any use or sale of such land must be in the public interest.

This is probably the most important legal vocabulary, because it defines the most important legal prong of the lawsuit. It says the government has a responsibility to future generations when it comes to protecting the water and public lands. One of the case’s difficulties is extending this notion to the air. Compare this to the reason the government owns navigable waters. Because one person can ruin an entire waterway, it isnt owned by them its owned by the government. Almost the exact same argument applies to the collective atmosphere that we all breathe.

Extrordinary Relief

A Petition for Extraordinary Relief can be filed when there is no other plain, speedy and adequate remedy available to a person. It can be on grounds involving: wrongful restraint on personal liberty; wrongful use of public or corporate authority; wrongful use of judicial authority, and the failure to exercise such authority. Extraordinary relief is usually granted in form of writs. Certiorari, Habeas Corpus, Mandamus and Prohibition are a few examples of extraordinary writs. Most States have specific rules regarding how a petition for extraordinary relief is to be filed.

This is the grounds that DOJ is using to stop the current trial. There argument that going to trial in and of it self requires Extraordinary Relief. Because going to trial is going to cost about 7 million dolars for doj, (about .02% of there total budget). That the supreme court itself must stop trial, despite the irreparable damage of losing 7 million dolars.