Every step we take is a step forward. We can deliver a safe, and livable future to our children, and future generations.

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To our friends, supporters, and champions,

We share common loves and values. We love children. We love science and our planet. We love thriving constitutional democracies and our fundamental human rights. We deeply value justice and the law. And we know that courts around the world can help billions of people find greater harmony, peace, health, equality, and sustainability on a finite planet.

When institutions we trust attack our core values, it hits hard. When they attack the people we love, it hurts.

In recent weeks, we’ve watched the U.S. Supreme Court issue opinions allowing for the criminalization of unhoused people—who lack political and economic power—for sleeping outside, while granting extraordinary immunity to the criminal behavior of a President—the most powerful person. The Supreme Court also overturned long-standing precedent threatening the ability of federal agencies to carry out laws passed by Congress, and made it harder for them to penalize industries that violate federal law.

The Court’s opinions are setting up a potentially seismic shift to the current structure of our federal government and the balance of power in our democracy, including for the health and safety of our young people. But this is not inevitable, any more than the results of our upcoming election are.
A fair and functioning democracy takes persistent work by all of us. We have your back, and our children’s, in the courts, in the halls of Congress, before executive agencies, in our communities, and in educational institutions across the world.

Remember, that these Supreme Court opinions, just like the Dobbs opinion that reversed Roe, came from decades of strategic litigation, advocacy, lobbying, and orchestrated maneuvering by the far right, who move cases forward that ultimately land at the highest court. Those cases shape and transform our law, without a countervailing balance of cases to protect ordinary people—like our children—from the special interests that control their government.
We must continue to power our rights-based strategic litigation work to reclaim the constitution and the law for the benefit of our children and generations to come.

Some want us to walk away from the Supreme Court or the judiciary entirely, wait it out for another day and another bench, and focus only on the other two branches of government. But if we do that, we concede our power and justice to the conservative right. We forfeit the Constitution to their originalist interpretation that favors special interest groups with power and money.

Don’t forget—what the Supreme Court decides today is not forever.

The wrongs executed by the current Court will not stand the test of time. Injustice will be righted if we continue to bring forward the truth, through evidence and strong legal argumentation in compelling cases. Through dissents and majority opinions, alongside work at every level of government, we can win back what has been eroded and expand protection for our youth. Our constitutional rights, and judicial interpretation of them, are not static. They’re dynamic—living and breathing.

We build from the work of legal giants before us. It was through unwavering perseverance that Pauli Murray, Thurgood Marshall, and Constance Baker Motley won back equal rights for Black children. It was through unwavering perseverance that Pauli Murray, Dorothy Kenyon, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg won equal rights for women that had been denied in cases for 100 years.

Our democracy was built around a Declaration of Independence from a form of government that perpetuated tyranny, obstructed access to justice, and had no checks and balances. The vitality of our third branch of government, just like the political branches, depends on our ongoing engagement with it, putting forward the cases that require it to continually reexamine and interpret our constitutional rights to better ensure liberty and protect life and the pursuit of happiness in the ever-evolving context of our lives.
We founded Our Children’s Trust 14 years ago today to catalyze the reexamination of our constitutional rights to include the recognition of children’s most fundamental rights in the face of their greatest threat: the climate crisis.

This is decades-long work, full of losses and wins along the way.

You have an indispensable role. Throughout history, our movements to deliver social change were most powerful when strategic litigation like ours worked in concert with direct action, advocacy, policy, and direct investment. By coming together, we made change in places previously seen as intractable: slavery, suffrage, reproductive rights, and marriage equality.

And make no mistake, we are winning now, too, faster even than in movements of the past—because we have to. The more support we build together, the faster we can go, in more courts, on behalf of more youth in more states and countries who are calling our name asking for help.

No matter what direction our politics swing, our work remains vital on these issues of our lifetime: the recognition of rights of children; enduring solutions to the climate crisis that transcend politics; making democracy and our courts work for us, not against us; reclaiming the true meaning of our constitutions that does not concentrate power in a few, but protects the many lives already here and the generations to come. We are here for it.

Luckily, the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund has made a $100,000 challenge grant. Your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar but only until there are funds left! Please consider supporting Our Children’s Trust with a donation today. And please continue to follow our cases and lend your voice in support.
DONATE ([link removed])

Thank you for joining with us. You can learn more about active litigation, below.

From our hearts and dedication to yours,

Julia Olson and Mat dos Santos, Co-Executive Directors
Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation

On June 20th, youth plaintiffs and their attorneys in Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation ([link removed]) joined together with Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) Director Edwin Sniffen and Governor Josh Green to announce and celebrate a groundbreaking Settlement Agreement ([link removed]) , powering the case forward to implementation and solutions. The Settlement Agreement recognizes children’s constitutional rights to a life-sustaining climate and mobilizes HDOT to plan and implement transformative changes to Hawaiʻi’s transportation system to achieve zero emissions in all ground transportation, and interisland sea and air transportation, by 2045.

The groundbreaking settlement agreement ([link removed]) marks the first time we are seeing true democracy in action on climate change. All three branches of government have committed to work together to do what needs to be done to protect young people’s constitutional rights.

To honor this historic victory, one of our key champions, the Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Fund, has committed $100,000 to match all donations dollar for dollar. Please consider supporting Our Children’s Trust with a donation today. And please continue to follow our case and lend your voice in support.
DONATE ([link removed])
Held v. State of Montana

Held v. State of Montana made history last August when Judge Kathy Seeley ruled wholly in favor of the youth plaintiffs, declaring that the state of Montana had violated the youth’s constitutional rights, including their right to a clean and healthful environment. This landmark ruling enshrined science-based protections for children’s most fundamental rights into law. As we expected, the State appealed the win to the Montana Supreme Court.

On July 10th, the youth plaintiffs headed to court once again, as their attorneys underscored the importance of upholding Judge Seeley’s ruling at oral argument in the Supreme Court. You can watch the press conference that took place following the hearing, here ([link removed]) , and learn more about the case and historic trial on our newly-launched Held v. State of Montana Trial website ([link removed]) !
VISIT THE SITE ([link removed])
Juliana v. United States

Two weeks ago, in Juliana v. United States, five “friend of the court” briefs were filed in support of Juliana v. United States. In their briefs, over 40 Members of Congress, law professors, international experts on climate rights, children’s rights scholars, and the UC Irvine Law School Civil Rights Litigation Clinic and UCLAHuman Rights Litigation Clinic urged the Ninth Circuit to allow the Juliana 21 access to justice, and the case to proceed to trial. We will not stop until the courthouse doors are opened to the Juliana 21. Because when our youth plaintiffs are heard in court, backed by world renowned experts and the best available climate science, we win.

If you have not yet emailed President Biden to demand the Juliana 21 be heard at trial or to come to the settlement table like Governor Green did, it’s not too late.
EMAIL PRESIDENT BIDEN ([link removed])

ourchildrenstrust.org ([link removed])
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OCT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN # 27-3094382
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