Summary
In 2017, a lawsuit was filed against the State of Colorado in order for the Colorado River to be declared a legal person. Deep Green Resistance filed the lawsuit as next of friends to the Colorado River alleging that climate change and the droughts that accompany it threaten the river’s existence. “The undersigned continues to believe that the doctrine provides American courts with a pragmatic and workable tool for addressing environmental degradation and the current issues facing the Colorado River,” the motion said. “That said, the expansion of rights is a difficult and legally complex matter. When engaged in an effort of first impression, the undersigned has a heightened ethical duty to continuously ensure that conditions are appropriate for our judicial institution to best consider the merits of a new canon.”