Constitutional Law - Federal Jurisdiction

Front 1

Requirements of Cases & Controversies (defined by Art. III)

Back 1

1. P must have STANDING
2. Case must be RIPE
3. Case must NOT BE MOOT
4. Case must NOT BE A POLITICAL QUESTION

Front 2

STANDING
- Definition
- 4 Requirements:

Back 2

- (P must show sufficient stake in the
controversy & injury in fact by the govt action involved
that will be remedied by a decision in her favor)
1. Injury in Fact: P was injured or imminently will be injured; if seeking injunctive relief, need likelihood of future harm.
2. Causation & Redressability: D caused P's injury so a favorable decision is likely to remedy the injury.
3. P cannot assert claims of others. No 3rd Party Standing. But exceptions.
4. No Generalized Grievances – P must not be suing solely as a citizen/taxpayer. Exception: taxpayers have standing to challenge gov expenditures of $ as violating Establishment Cl (not from gen revenue).

Front 3

Exceptions to No 3rd Party Standing:

Back 3

1. Close relationship between P and injured 3rd party
2. If the injured 3rd party is unlikely to be able to assert her own rights
3. ORGANIZATIONAL STANDING: An org may sue for its members, if:
i. Members would have standing to sue (see standing requirements),
ii. The interests are germane to the org’s purpose, and
iii. No participation is required of individual members for the claim or relief

Front 4

RIPENESS

Back 4

- (Whether fed. ct. may grant pre-enforcement review of a statute/reg - When P seeking declaratory judgment, usually ripeness issue)
- 1. Hardship that will be suffered w/o pre-enforcement review.
2. Fitness of the Issues and record for judicial review

Front 5

MOOTNESS

Back 5

- (events after filing of a lawsuit end the P’s injury, case must be dismissed as moot)
- 3 Exceptions:
1. Wrong capable of repetition but evading review (pregnancy/abortion)
2. Voluntary cessation (if D voluntarily halts offending practice but is free to resume it at any time, case won’t be dismissed as moot)
3. Class action suits (if named P claim becomes moot, class action won’t be dismissed so long as one member of the class has an ongoing injury)

Front 6

POLITICAL QUESTION DOCTRINE

Back 6

(Constitutional violations that the fed cts will not adjudicate; left to political branches to resolve)
These 4 claims always dismissed as nonjusticiable PQs:
1. The “republican form of govt clause”
2. Challenges to the Pres’s conduct of foreign policy
3. Challenges to the impeachment & removal process
4. Challenges to partisan gerrymandering

Front 7

Supreme Court Review

Back 7

Generally, SC may hear cases only after there has been a final judgment of the highest state ct, of a U.S. Ct of Appeals, or of a 3-judge federal district ct.
- SC has original and exclusive jurisdiction for suits between state govts

Front 8

Supreme Court Review of State Court Decisions

Back 8

Must not be an independent and adequate state law ground of decision.
1. If state ct decision rests on two grounds, one state law and one federal law, if the SC’s reversal of the fed law ground will not change the result in the case, the SC cannot hear it.

Front 9

11th Amendment Limits on (Lower) Federal Courts
- SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY

Back 9

11th A. bars all suits against states in federal courts and in state courts or federal agencies. BUT does not apply to local govts.
4 Exceptions:
a. States may waive sovereign immunity and consent to be sued expressly
b. States may be sued pursuant to federal laws adopted under § 5 of the 14th A. (authorizes Congress to enforce 14th A.) but not under other constitutional provisions.
c. Federal govt may sue state govts
d. Bankruptcy proceedings

Front 10

11th Amendment
SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY - Suits against state officers are allowed

Back 10

State officers may be sued for injunctive relief, money damages to be paid out of their own pockets, but NOT if it is the state treasury that will be paying retroactive damages.