| Syllabus | Opinion [ Scalia ] | Concurrence [ O'Connor ] | Concurrence [ Breyer ] | Concurrence [ Stevens ] | Concurrence [ Ginsburg ] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HTML version PDF version | HTML version PDF version | HTML version PDF version | HTML version PDF version | HTML version PDF version | HTML version PDF version |
Ginsburg, J., concurring
STEEL COMPANY, aka CHICAGO STEEL AND PICKLING COMPANY, PETITIONER v. CITIZENS
FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
[March 4, 1998]
Justice Ginsburg, concurring in the judgment.
Congress has authorized citizen suits to enforce the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986, 42 U.S.C. § 11001 et seq. Does that authorization, as Congress designed it, permit citizen suits for wholly past violations? For the reasons stated by Justice Stevens in Part III of his opinion, I agree that the answer is “No.” I would follow the path this Court marked in Gwaltney of Smithfield, Ltd. v. Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Inc., 484 U.S. 49, 60—61 (1987), and resist expounding or offering advice on the constitutionality of what Congress might have done, but did not do.