[JURIST] The Bush administration violated US law by not producing a study on the effects of global warming, a federal judge ruled [PDF text] Tuesday. Rejecting government arguments that it had discretion as to when to produce the reports, US District Court Judge Saundra Armstrong held that the Global Change Research Act of 1990 [text] mandates that a research plan on global warming be revised every three years and an assessment of the latest scientific data be updated every four years. The research plan was last revised in 2003 and the assessment in 2000. Armstrong ordered the government to produce its research plan by March 1, 2008 and the assessment by May 31, 2008.

The lawsuit [case materials] was brought by plaintiffs Friends of the Earth, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Greenpeace [advocacy websites], who hailed the ruling as a victory over administration attempts to suppress science on climate change. A White House spokesperson said that the administration would review the decision before deciding on its next move. AP has more.