Representational Standing: US ex rel Stevens and the Future of Public Law Litigation

Abstract

THE EVOLUTION OF STANDING DOCTRINE Standing is a doctrine of justiciability by which federal courts determine whether a particular "case" 5 or "controversy" 6 is appropriate for 3. 120 S. Ct. 1858 (2000). 4. Id. at 1862-63. 5. U.S. CONsT. art. III, § 2 ("The judicial Power shall extend to all cases... arising under this Constitution, the Law 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 ....). 6. Id. ("The judicial Power shall extend 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; [Vol. 89:315 2001] REPRESENTATIONAL STANDING federal adjudication. Unlike the other justiciability doctrines, 7 standing concentrates on the status of the litigants rather than the issues in dispute, 8 and asks whether an individual plaintiff has a sufficient stake in the outcome of a matter to justify his right to litigate the issue in federal court. 9 Over the past three decades, the Supreme Court has used standing doctrine to restrict the ability of private citizens to vindicate broad public rights and, concomitantly, to limit the authority of Congress to vest such power in the citizenry.' In denying standing to individuals or groups of citizens seeking to remedy environmental wrongs," racial discrimination, 2 police brutality, 3 and First Amendment violations, 4 the Court has grounded its standing rules squarely within Article 1H of the Constitution. 15 between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under the Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects."). 7. The other justiciability doctrines prohibit advisory opinions, collusive suits, and determinations of political questions. In addition, the justiciability doctrines of ripeness and mootness seek to ensure that cases or controversies are appropriate for judicial review.