Since before 1993 and for the last decades of his life, the late Sidney Longwell fought to break free from the arbitrary decision-making and red tape at the Department of the Interior (DOI). Mountain States Legal Foundation and its supporters have been in Sidney’s corner since he launched his litigation back in 2013. And after decades of regulator review, and over ten years of court battles, we are happy to announce a win for Sidney and his family in his case—Solenex v. Haaland!
On September 9, 2022, Judge Richard Leon of the US District Court for the District of Columbia rejected (for a second time!) the federal government’s “Kafkaesque” actions, and once again penned a robust order requiring the DOI to reinstate Sidney’s lease and his permit to drill, which had been suspended for decades under unfair circumstances, and then abruptly cancelled.
Sidney Longwell first bought his federal oil and gas lease in 1982. But after years of back-and-forth, the Clinton Administration suspended his lease indefinitely in 1993, placing it in regulatory limbo. A decade of fruitless bureaucratic review followed. Finally, in 2013, and with help from Mountain States Legal Foundation, he took the DOI to court, where the agency was forced to address Sidney’s lease. When pressed in 2016 for a decision, the DOI canceled the lease! So, Mountain States and Sidney sued them again.
Last fall, the court again ordered the reinstatement of Sidney’s lease and permit!
As the court wrote, “It is time to put an end to this interminable, and insufferable, bureaucratic chess match.” We couldn’t agree more.
In the ensuing months, the DOI and its activist allies appealed the court’s ruling. But they have now agreed to drop their appeals and pay Solenex —the company that Sidney founded—for an end to the litigation.
After five presidents and decades, this case has finally come to a victorious conclusion. The federal government and its allies who intervened in the case have signed settlement agreements that uphold Sidney Longwell’s hard-fought victories. And they have agreed to pay Solenex $2.62 million to resolve the case, with the federal government supplying $2 million, and the intervening activists supplying the other $624,700.
The settlements solidify our victory from the court’s 2022 decision, and they secure a sizeable monetary payment. In this final victory for Sidney, we have achieved something important for every American: fairness and due process under the law.
At Mountain States, we take on tough cases that will lead to important results for America. We are in the fight for as long as it takes to see justice prevail. In this case, we did not rest until the Longwells got justice. For all our clients, we do not rest until the Constitution, the law, and the natural rights of liberty are restored. This has been Mountain States’ institutional mission since 1977, and it will continue to be our mission for many more years to come.
