Environmental Justice in Context: Assumptions, Meanings, and Practices of Environmental Justice in U.S. Courts

This article asks how federal courts in the United States take up explicit claims of environmental justice. Through examination of judicial opinions and rhetoric, the article examines how environmental justice assumes shape and meaning in the context of litigation and legal institutions. The results highlight tensions between the broad conceptions of environmental justice found in academic and popular literature and more limited understanding of the concept found in court opinions. Findings suggest means for improving recognition of environmental justice as an explicit legal claim and also for adapting advocacy in environmental justice cases.