Monday, November 9, 2009

Two Cases Narrowing Standing

We discussed standing in 2302 today and how the recent Supreme Court has used it to make it easier to not have to make decisions in certain cases. Here are two examples I ran across today:

- Hein v the Freedom From Religion Foundation: A case which challenged President Bush's Faith Based Initiatives on the grounds that they violated the Establishment Clause. The court rules that since the program was an executive action funded by general revenues, the organization which brought the suit lacked standing.

- Salazar v. Buono: An ongoing case, again involving the Establishment Clause, regarding the constitutionality of a cross erected on government land -- which was quickly sold to a private party -- and the refusal to allow a Buddhist group to build a similar monument. ScotusBlog suggests that this case may also be decided by denying the plaintiff standing.