Justiciable: No Advisory Opinions Flashcards
Standing
Only a person or entity who has standing may bring a lawsuit
May be raised AT ANY TIME during proceedings
R: To have standing the plaintiff must allege a sufficient legal interest and injury to participate in the case and that resolution of the case could afford relief.
[Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins] “People Search Engine violates FRCA”
Holding: Actual injury requires that injury must be both Concrete and Particularized.
- Particular: Affects PLNTF in a personal and individual way.
- Concrete: Must be “de facto,” injury must actually exist. Statutory right violations may be concrete even if they are intangible.
In this case therefore, A/C failed to analyze the concreteness requirement and it must be retried.
Standing Elements: (3 elements; really 6) I[CPA]CR
-
Injury in fact
a. Concrete, b. particularized, c. actual or imminent. - Causal connection between injury and alleged unlawful conduct
- Likely that their injury will be redressed by a favorable decision
[Summers v. Earth Island Institute] “Forests might be harmed so I have been harmed”
R: Plaintiff lacked standing because the actual harm had already been settled in another case.
Standing Elements:
1. Injury in fact
a. Concrete, b. particularized, c. actual or imminent.
2. Causal connection between injury and alleged unlawful conduct
3. Likely that their injury will be redressed by a favorable decision
A3 Denies fed court the power of “advisory opinions” if something is not justiciable.
Advisory if: (2 elements)
- No actual legal dispute between parties
- Decision not substantially likely to have a binding legal effect on the parties
Five Justiciability doctrines:
Arise from A3 case or controversy requirement and/or separation of powers
1. No advisory opinions
2. Only a person or entity who has standing may bring a lawsuit
3. Ripeness: The COA must be sufficiently developed for adjudication
4. No moot suits
5. Political question doctrine
Advisory Opinion Precedent: Hayburn’s case
F: Federal statute provided that Revolutionary War veterans could apply for benefits to federal T/C. T/C judgment would be reviewed by the secretary of war who would decide whether to affirm or reject courts’ judgments.
R: 5 different justices on circuit concluded this was A3 violation.
Standing: Injury in Fact 3 Elements (CPA/I)
- Concrete,
- particularized, and
- either actual/imminent.
Standing: Causal Connection (Between Injury and Conduct)
- D’s illegal action is legal cause of P’s injury
- Injury must be fairly traceable to the challenged action
- Not the result of independent action
Standing: Redressability
Redressability: The “relief from the injury must be likely to follow from a favorable decision.” The mere possibility that the relief sought will redress the harm is insufficient; “likely” means more probable than not.
Los Angeles v. Lyons, 461 U.S. 95 (1983). “I can’t breathe”
Standing must be valid for each form of relief sought. Ergo, a Plaintiff must show continuing or imminent future injury for injunctions.
Standing: Ripeness
A. The plaintiff’s injury must, at a minimum, be imminent. A case is unripe when the alleged injury remains “hypothetical” or “conjectural.”
B. Plaintiff need not violate an
1. Unconstitutional law that
2. Will be enforced.
- It can be difficult to show standing for older laws that are not really enforced.
- “Chilling Effects” of free speech violations can be valid.
Mootness
A. A case is moot when one of the components necessary for standing has disappeared during the course of the litigation.
a. Once standing is established it is presumed to remain as long as there is a concrete interest no matter how small.
b. The party claiming mootness has the burden of proof
Two Exceptions where moot cases may still be decided:
1. Voluntary cessation of challenged conduct
2. When the question is capable of repetition while evading judicial review
- Pregnant women challenging abortion laws will have given birth by the time the case is decided
Five Justiciability Doctrines Overview
Arise from A3 case or controversy requirement and/or separation of powers
1. No advisory opinions
2. Standing: Only a person or entity who has standing may bring a lawsuit
3. Ripeness: The COA must be sufficiently developed for adjudication
4. No moot suits
5. Political question doctrine
Political Questions Doctrine:
An otherwise-justiciable “case” or “controversy” lies beyond a federal court’s authority to decide if the dispute constitutes a so-called “political question”: a dispute the Constitution vests for its resolution in the elected (or “political”) branches.
- narrow category of disputes the Constitution leaves to the political process
- Can still address constitutional issues in a given otherwise political case
