This article by Eric Heisig was published on Cleveland.com on March 19th, 2019.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Lake Erie is going to court.
The Great Lake, known to Ohio residents as the body of water where they can boat, fish and swim, asked a federal judge on Monday to jump into a lawsuit over a law Toledoans passed to protect its ecosystem.
The conceit of a non-sentient ecological body being allowed into a federal courtroom may sound strange at first. However, the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, which residents in Toledo passed during a special election in February, allows city residents to sue on the lake’s behalf.
The group says it does not think that city lawyers will do a good job of defending the Lake Erie Bill of Rights because the Toledo City Council president and others campaigned against it, according to a motion filed Monday by attorneys Terry Lodge and Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin.
The lawsuit, filed one day after Toledo voters approve the law, says the bill of rights violates residents’ equal protection and freedom of speech, and is unenforceable because it is so vague.
Zouhary on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law from going into effect while the case is litigated. Both the Toledo and farmers Mark and Tyler Drewes, who filed suit, agreed to the injunction.
While having a piece of the environment participate in a lawsuit seems like a novel idea, the motion names examples of ecosystems being granted legal standing by either courts or lawmakers in Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand.
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