Procedural violations, not civil rights claims, won the Buttonwillow trial case.

Evidence

Randall’s decision on the merits, issued on April 29, 1996, surprised everyone: he ruled for Padres and set aside Laidlaw’s permit. He agreed with Padres that the County had not followed the Tanner Act when it unilaterally suspended the LAC, when it denied the LAC technical assistance grants, and when it prematurely disbanded the LAC. He also ruled that the County had violated its own General Plan by approving the dump without determining whether there was a local need for it. Randall also suspended the dump’s permit because of violations of the California Environmental Quality Act. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 464

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Environmental-law suits succeed by attacking permitting procedure rather than outcomes — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 557; A victory before a conservative trial court bred misplaced faith in appeal. — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental…, 467