Congress has repeatedly included "citizen suit" and private attorney general provisions in numerous environmental, civil rights, and other laws in order to ensure that essential legal safeguards are upheld and enforced where there is no will in Washington to take on corporate polluters.  These provisions are among the most important and successful innovations of modern environmental law.  For example, in upholding the ability of individuals and organizations to sue polluters, the Supreme Court recognized that: "Congress has found that civil penalties in Clean Water Act cases do more than promote immediate compliance . . . they also deter future violations."