ABSTRACT
The provisions of the Bill of Rights fall into two rough categories: those things the federal government cannot do by law and those things it must do. Suppose that Congress passed and the states ratified a new amendment to the Constitution: "The right of the people to a clean, healthful environment shall not be abridged." A person claiming a violation of that right must be able to bring legal action when he or she thinks that it has been abridged, the court must take injury of the right into account, and relief should be directed to that right. Taking as true all factual allegations in the complaint, plaintiffs have failed to allege a violation by defendants of any judicially cognizable federal constitutional right which would entitle them to the relief sought. The Tanner case raises the issue of the existence and content of a constitutional right to a decent environment.
