35.
Standing to Sue
The "case or controversy" clause of Article III of the
Constitution imposes a minimal constitutional standing requirement
on
all litigants attempting to bring suit in federal court. In order
to
invoke the court's jurisdiction, the plaintiff must demonstrate, at
an
"irreducible minimum," that: (1) he/she has suffered a distinct and
palpable injury as a result of the putatively illegal conduct of
the
defendant; (2) the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged
conduct;
and (3) it is likely to be redressed if the requested relief is
granted.
See Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for
Separation of
Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 472 (1982); Gladstone,
Realtors v.
Village of Bellwood, 441 U.S. 91, 99 (1979); Simon v. Eastern
Kentucky
Welfare Rights Organization, 426 U.S. 26, 37 (1976). In addition to
the
constitutional requirements of Article III, courts have developed
a set
of prudential considerations to limit standing in federal court to
prevent a plaintiff "from adjudicating 'abstract questions of wide
public significance' which amount to 'generalized grievances'
pervasively shared and most appropriately addressed in the
representative branches." See Valley Forge, 454 U.S. at 474-75,
quoting
Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 499-500 (1975). Speculative claims
that a
proposed governmental action may result in injury to a plaintiff
are
insufficient to confer standing. See O'Shea v. Littleton, 414 U.S.
488,
497 (1974). The required injury must be both real and immediate,
not
conjectural or hypothetical. See Golden v. Zwickler, 394 U.S. 103,
109-10 (1969).
[cited in USAM 4-2.130]
| | |