Developments in the Law of Standing

Prof. Richard Re has this post at SCOTUSblog on the U.S. Supreme Court’s January 14 decision on standing in Bost v. Illinois Board of Elections. He notes several ways that the high court seems to be loosening the restrictions on standing in federal courts.

Standing is an issue that often comes up in crime victims’ rights litigation.

U.S. Supreme Court decisions based on Article III of the U.S. Constitution are not necessarily binding on state courts, where standing issues turn on the judiciary article of the state constitution and other state laws. Even so, the high court’s decisions are often persuasive precedent in state courts.

A particularly interesting aspect is “relative standing,” while a litigant with marginal standing might or might not be found to have standing depending on whether there is anyone else with better standing who can and will challenge the law in question as a practical matter. This basis of standing has not been explicitly recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, although it has been lurking in the background.

In cases that CJLF has litigated on behalf of victims of crime, there typically is no one who has better standing and also has the ability and motivation to challenge a law of dubious constitutionality.