It sometimes is possible to fight city hall. But the federal government? Forget it, especially when outrageous environmental rules are involved.

A Minnesota company – Hawkes Company, Inc. – had hoped to conduct mining operations in a peat bog, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said no. The area is off-limits because it is a protected wetland, the Corps insists.

Company officials went to court, pointing out they could appeal the Corps decision only by applying for a permit at a cost of $270,000, then waiting years for the bureaucracy to act on it. A federal appeals court agreed, ruling the firm instead could challenge the Corps in court.

Now the case is before the Supreme Court, which in 2012 ruled in a similar situation involving the Environmental Protection Agency. Then, the high court ordered the EPA could not act as judge, jury and executioner.

Incredible as it may seem, the EPA and the Corps have done that many times – telling property owners they had no right to appeal orders in court. Supreme Court justices should reject that sort of dictatorship in this case too.