Supreme Court Deals Blow To Deep State Control In Ruling Against EPA https://t.co/w8Hw6Z7fH2
BREAKING: The Supreme Court narrowly ruled that prisoners have a right to a jury trial when there's a factual dispute over whether they properly exhausted prison grievance procedures — a requirement before suing over prison conditions under federal law. https://t.co/L22cHDKmRs https://t.co/wZtJsSKWgt
🔥 from Justice Thomas: https://t.co/QN2fjskQMr
The U.S. Supreme Court expanded prisoners’ access to jury trials, holding 5-4 in Perttu v. Richards that inmates are entitled to a jury determination when prison officials dispute whether administrative grievance requirements under the Prison Litigation Reform Act have been exhausted. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, while Justice Amy Coney Barrett filed a dissent joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh. In separate Clean Air Act venue rulings, the Court clarified where challenges to Environmental Protection Agency actions must be heard. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a seven-member majority, concluded in EPA v. Calumet Shreveport that denials of small refinery exemption petitions have “nationwide scope or effect,” placing exclusive jurisdiction in the D.C. Circuit. In Oklahoma v. EPA, the Court held that disputes over the agency’s disapproval of state implementation plans for Oklahoma and Utah fall to the regional circuit courts because the actions are locally focused. Taken together, the decisions delineate the federal judiciary’s role in reviewing both prisoner-rights claims and environmental regulations, while signaling the justices’ continued interest in procedural questions that shape access to the courts.