Supreme Court Archives - PEER.org

Supreme Court

Senior Counsel

Peter has been an environmental, land use, and consumer attorney and advocate since 1983. He has held various roles in Washington, DC including Of Counsel at the Center for Food Safety; Vice President for U.S. Government Policy at Conservation International; Director of International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife; and Staff Attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Additionally, he worked as a contracted consultant on endangered species recovery efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Turner Endangered Species Fund in New Mexico. Prior to that, he served as an Attorney and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, and was also in private law practice. His career has centered on bringing the best science to bear in environmental protection efforts; he has specialized in working with scientists so their findings can inform good policy, as well as in federal litigation. Most of his work has been in aid of wildlife conservation in the fields of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, wildlife disease prevention, international trade, land use conflicts, and other areas. Peter received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law and also has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a focus on conservation biology.

COMMENTARY | The Supreme Court Must Stop the Slide to Authoritarian Rule

by Peter Jenkins | October 7, 2025
The Supreme Court, whose 2025-2026 Term began on October 6, has set the stage for a descent to authoritarian rule in a series of quick rulings that favored President Trump over the last nine months ...

COMMENTARY | The Whistleblower and the Presidential Immunity Ruling

by Jeff Ruch | August 28, 2024
25 years ago, Congress fashioned remedies to check executive abuses. To limit damage from the Trump immunity ruling, it'll likely have to do so again ...

COMMENTARY | Immunity Begets Impunity: Responding to Illegal Orders

by Jeff Ruch | August 13, 2024
The impact of the recent Supreme Court decision creating a sweeping constitutional presidential immunity will be felt for a long time ...

COMMENTARY | Hubris Squared: What the End of Chevron Means

by Tim Whitehouse | July 1, 2024
The Supreme Court has limited government agencies’ ability to interpret and implement federal laws protecting public health and the environment ...