A Question of Justice: Equity in Environmental Litigation, 1974-1991

Substantial evidence suggests that minorities and the poor are exposed to disproportionately high levels of environmental risk. While there are numerous possible causes for inequities in the distribution of pollution, some researchers have identified actions of the federal judiciary as one element contributing to bias in environmental protection. Environmental justice advocates have suggested that penalties for violating environmental regulations are systematically lower in poor and minority areas, signaling that pollution is more acceptable in these areas. Using data from all civil cases filed under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act between 1974 and 1991, I test the proposition that penalties in these cases disadvantage poor and minority areas. The results from this analysis demonstrate that such penalties are not, in fact, smaller in these areas, suggesting that the judicial contributions to inequities in the distribution of environmental risk are negligible.