Press Releases

Attorney General William Tong

12/05/2019

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI IN TWEED-NEW HAVEN AIRPORT CASE

The Office of the Attorney General today filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court to review the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority v. Tong.

In July 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the state statute regulating the length of the main runway at Tweed-New Haven Airport is preempted by federal aviation law, overturning a 2017 district court ruling that upheld the state law.

"We have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to address two issues of legal significance to the State: first, whether a political subdivision of a state has standing to sue its creator State, and second, whether the Federal Aviation Act preempts state law in determining the length of a local airport runway. We believe both these issues are of national, state and local significance and merit Supreme Court review," said Attorney General William Tong.

The petition for a writ of certiorari requests the U.S. Supreme Court to review two questions:

  1. Does a political subdivision of a State have standing to sue its creator State under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution?
  2. Does the Federal Aviation Act preempt a state law limiting the length of an airport runway, thereby depriving a State from determining the size and nature of a local airport?

A copy of the petition for a writ of certiorari can be found here.

Assistant Attorney General Drew Graham and Solicitor General Clare Kindall assisted the Attorney General with this matter.

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