1. The Federal Judicial Power

Question 1

Standing

Answer 1

Standing is the issue of whether the plaintiff is the proper party to bring a matter to the court for adjudication.

Question 2

What is required to have standing?

Answer 2

1. Injury - The plaintiff must allege and prove that he or she has been injured or imminently will be injured
2. Causation and redressability - The plaintiff must allege and prove that the defendant caused the injury so that a favorable court decision is likely to remedy the injury.

Question 3

When may a plaintiff assert third party standing?

Answer 3

1. Exception: third party standing is allowed if there is a close relationship between the plaintiff and the injured third party
2. Exception: third party standing is allowed if the injured third party is unlikely to be able to assert his or her own rights
3. Exception: an organization may sue for its members, if
   a. the members would have standing to sue;
   b. the interests are germane to the organization’s purpose;
   c. neither the claim nor relief requires participation of individual members

Question 4

When may a plaintiff sue solely as a citizen or as a taxpayer interested in having the government follow the law?

Answer 4

taxpayers have standing to challenge government
expenditures pursuant to federal (or state and local) statutes as
violating the Establishment Clause

Question 5

Ripeness

Answer 5

Ripeness is the question of whether a federal court may grant pre-enforcement review of a statute or regulation.

Question 6

Mootness

Answer 6

If events after the filing of a lawsuit end the plaintiff’s injury, the case must be dismissed as moot.

Question 7

Exceptions to Mootness

Answer 7

1. Wrong capable of repetition but evading review
2. Voluntary cessation: If the defendant voluntarily halts the offending conduct, but is free to resume it at any time, the case will not be dismissed as moot.
3. Class action suits: If the named plaintiff’s claim becomes moot, it will not be dismissed so

Question 8

The political question doctrine

Answer 8

The political question doctrine refers to constitutional violations that the federal courts will not adjudicate.

Question 9

What types of cases are barred by the political question doctrine?

Answer 9

1. The “republican form of government clause” - cases brought under the republican form of government clause are always dismissed as non-justiciable
2. Challenges to the President’s conduct of foreign policy
3. Challenges to the impeachment and removal process
4. Challenges to partisan gerrymandering.

Question 10

When may the Supreme Court hear a case?

Answer 10

Generally, the Supreme Court may hear cases only after there has been a final judgment of the highest state court, of a United States Court of Appeals, or of a three-judge federal district court

Question 11

What is required for the Supreme Court to review a state court decision?

Answer 11

For the Supreme Court to review a state court decision, there must not be an independent and adequate state law ground of decision. If a state court decision rests on two grounds, one state law and one federal law, if the Supreme Court’s reversal of the federal law ground will not change the result in the case, the Supreme Court cannot hear it.

Question 12

May lower federal courts hear suits against state governments?

Answer 12

Federal courts (and state courts) may not hear suits against state governments

Question 13

The Eleventh Amendment

Answer 13

The Eleventh Amendment bars suits against states in federal court

Question 14

Sovereign Immunity

Answer 14

Sovereign immunity bars suits against states in state courts or federal agencies

Question 15

States may be sued under the following circumstances

Answer 15

1. Waiver is permitted - A state may waive its sovereign immunity, but the waiver must be explicit.
2. States may be sued pursuant to federal laws adopted under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress cannot authorize suits against states under other constitutional provisions.
3. The federal government may sue state governments.
4. Bankruptcy proceedings.

Question 16

Abstention

Answer 16

Federal courts may not enjoin pending state court proceedings