Case 1:23-cv-03026-TOR ECF No. 80 filed 04/07/23 PageID.2173 Page 12 of 31
Courts have determined that the APA alone does not demonstrate congressional intent to authorize a state to sue the federal government as parens patriae. See Bernhardt, 923 F.3d at 181; Am. Fed’n of Tchrs. v. Cardona, No. 5:20-CV-00455-EJD, 2021 WL 4461187, at *5 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 29, 2021). However, states are not necessarily precluded from bringing a parens patriae suit against the federal government, including where the underlying statute forming the basis for the APA action authorizes a parens patriae suit. See New York v. United States Dep’t of Lab., 477 F. Supp. 3d 1, 9, n.6 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); New York v. Biden, No. 20-CV-2340(EGS), 2022 WL 5241880, at *7 (D.D.C. Oct. 6, 2022) (allowing parens patriae suit against federal government where “Plaintiffs’ efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 are aimed at protecting the public health of their respective jurisdictions as a whole.”); Louisiana v. Becerra, No. 3:21-CV-04370, 2022 WL 4370448, at *5 (W.D. La. Sept. 21, 2022) (finding states have parens patriae and/or quasi-sovereign interest in APA claims on behalf of citizens).
Regardless of whether Plaintiffs have standing to assert claims on behalf of its citizens under the APA in this case, Plaintiffs allege direct injuries sufficient to confer standing. Therefore, the Court declines to resolve the parens patriae issue.
ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR
PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ~ 12
