A federal district judge this week preliminarily rejected the plastic industry’s arguments that the California attorney general’s probe into plastics recycling claims violated the First Amendment.
In a Wednesday order out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, said the American Chemistry Council and the Plastics Industry Association “have not demonstrated” why California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s investigation falls under federal jurisdiction.
In 2022, Bonta launched an investigation targeting major plastic makers “for their role in causing and exacerbating the global plastics pollution crisis.”
In May, ACC and PLASTICS filed the case over Bonta’s investigative subpoenas, with the two industry trade associations saying the documents he is seeking are protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution. The attorney general fought back days later with a complaint against the two groups urging a state court to enforce the subpoenas.
