Justiciability

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

10:17 PM

Art. III 2 Cl. 1

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the
Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to
all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and
maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to
Controversies between two or more States;-- between a State and Citizens of another State,--
between Citizens of different States,--between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States,
Citizens or Subjects.

Standing

The determination of whether a specific person is the proper party to

bring a matter to the court for adjudication

Injury ( required under Art. III)

Plaintiff must have a sufficiently concrete, particularized and
imminent injury.
Causation ( required under Art. III)
Plaintiff must allege and prove that the personal injury is "fairly
traceable to the defendant's allegedly unlawful conduct and
likely to be redressed by the requested relief."
Redressability: Plaintiff must show that a favorable court
decision is likely to remedy the injury.
No third party standing
Generally, the plaintiff can only assert injuries he or she has
suffered; a plaintiff cannot litigate the rights of someone who is
not before the court UNLESS:
There is a sufficiently close relationship between plaintiff
and third party
Ex. Parent-Child, Doctor-patient.
There is a substantial obstacle preventing the third party
from asserting his or her rights.
No generalized grievances
The court is generally unwilling to hear a case when the
asserted injury is one that affects all or a large class of citizens.
Ex. Taxpayer standing
It
m
ust be something that affects you personally.

Associational Standing
An association or organization can sue on behalf of its own
members when:
There is no injury to the association itself but the members
themselves would have standing (injury and causation are
met) and
Individual participation by the members is not necessary

Advisory Opinions

Federal courts cannot issue advisory opinions, meaning that they won't give
an opinion about whether a law is constitutional unless it arises in a case or
controversy.

Mootness

The controversy must exist at all stages of the federal proceedings. If

events subsequent to the filing of the case resolve the dispute, the
case should be dismissed as moot. Determines when the litigation
may occur
Exceptions
Class action suits
Wrongs which are capable of repetition yet evading review
Some injuries occur and are over so quickly that they will
always be moot before the litigation process is complete
Ex. Pregnancy/abortion

Ripeness

A case is ripe when it is ready for review. A plaintiff is barred from

bringing a case before an injury has occurred, and the claim is based
on a speculative injury that may never occur.

Political Question

The political question doctrine refers to subject matter that the

Court deems inappropriate for judicial review. Although there is an
allegation of a Constitutional violation, the federal courts refuse to
rule and instead dismiss the case, leaving the constitutional
question to be resolved in the political process.
Function of separation of powers
Six Part Test ( Baker v. Carr)
1. Textually demonstrable constitutional commitment of the issue to
a coordinate political department
2. Lack of judicially discoverable and manageable standards for
resolving it
3. The impossibility of deciding without an initial policy
determination of a kind clearly for non-judicial discretion
4. The impossibility of a court's undertaking independent resolution
without expressing lack of respect due coordinate branches of
government
5. An unusual need for an unquestioning adherence to a political
decision already made
6. The potentiality of embarrassment from multifarious
pronouncements by various departments on one question