Supreme Court of Vermont, 1998

The Court affirmed dismissal of the plaintiffs’ claims challenging a bridge permit. The plaintiffs lacked standing because they alleged generalized public harms rather than a particularized injury, and their due-process, equal-protection, and Administrative Procedure Act claims did not allege a legally protected…

The Court held that sovereign immunity barred Noble’s negligence action against the Office of Child Support because OCS’s enforcement activities for families receiving public assistance have no private-sector analog.

The Court affirmed the Environmental Court’s decision that the Weekses’ two undersized lots retained their exemption from the Town’s minimum lot-size requirement. The ordinance did not state that separate ownership had to continue after its effective date, so later common ownership did not automatically trigger…

The Court affirmed termination of the mother's parental rights because, despite substantial progress, the evidence supported the family court's finding that she could not safely resume parenting within a reasonable time measured by the child's needs.