Federal docket · On a public docket
Lighthiser v. Trump
No. 2:25-cv-00054 · Federal — District of Montana
Filed May 29, 2025; dismissal reported October 2025
What was published
Young plaintiffs, including Livingston resident Eva Lighthiser and youths who had won the state-court Held climate trial, sued President Donald J. Trump and federal offices over executive orders they said would worsen climate change and violate their constitutional rights. Montana intervened on the government’s side. Judge Dana Christensen dismissed the case. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that he found overwhelming evidence the plaintiffs were being harmed, and would be harmed further, but called an order blocking the executive actions unworkable. He wrote that the claim belonged with the political branches or the electorate. The plaintiffs said they would appeal.
Where it stands
Dismissed in the district court. An appeal was announced by the plaintiffs. That announcement is not a Ninth Circuit case number in this file.
Does not establish
A constitutional suit by young people is political dissent in the public-records sense. It is not a criminal case, and the dismissal is not a finding that the climate facts were false. The Chronicle is the source for the judge’s reasoning quoted here.
Sources
- Judge dismisses the youth climate suitBozeman Daily Chronicle
October 15, 2025.
- Docket caption as indexedJustia dockets
Justia’s Montana civil-rights index lists Lighthiser et al. v. Trump et al., filed May 29, 2025, as 2:2025cv00054. Confirm the latest entry on CourtListener before citing a filing date in print.









