Supreme Court: EPA Standards Bar State Failure to Warn Claims

Morath Weighs in on Monsanto v. Durnell Ruling

Do states have the right to insist on environmental protections for their citizens, even when federal agencies have refused to do so? According to the Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026 ruling in 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘷. 𝘋𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘭, they do not. In a recent article for The Conversation, Sabin Center Board Member and Wake Law Professor Sarah Morath addressed the ruling’s implications, including the likely termination of tens of thousands of pending “failure to warn” cases arising out of the alleged harms from glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer.

But the story doesn’t end there. Even as some Democrats in Congress pursue legislation to undo the ruling’s effect, counter measures are being pursued at the federal and state levels by advocates for the pesticide industry.

Read on for the implications of this ruling, which go far beyond weedkiller to the tension between protecting large corporations and protecting consumers.