Anthony Kennedy

“ We are not unmindful of the paradox that would result if respondents (plaintiffs below) prevail on the merits, for then they will have succeeded in obtaining a federal determination here that would have been unavailable if the action had been filed initially in federal court. Nonetheless, although federal standing "often turns on the nature and source of the claim asserted," it "in no way depends on the merits of the [claim] ." ”

“ The ultimate question for our decision is whether Arizona's statute governing mineral leases on state lands is void because it does not conform with the federal laws that originally granted those lands from the United States to Arizona. ”

“ When a state court has issued a judgment in a case where plaintiffs in the original action had no standing to sue under the principles governing the federal courts, we may exercise our jurisdiction on certiorari if the judgment of the state court causes direct, specific, and concrete injury to the parties who petition for our review, where the requisites of a case or controversy are also met. ”

“ Second, the doctrine of standing to sue is not a kind of gaming device that can be surmounted merely by aggregating the allegations of different kinds of plaintiffs, each of whom may have claims that are remote or speculative taken by themselves. Instead, the basic inquiry, for each party seeking to invoke the authority of the federal courts, Warth, supra, 422 U.S., at 498-499, 95 S.Ct., at 2204-2205, is whether that party alleges personal injury that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct and likely to be redressed by the requested relief. ”

“ The Arizona Supreme Court issued a final judgment within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1257, despite the fact that it remanded the case for the trial court to determine appropriate further relief. On remand, the trial court does not have before it any federal question whether past or current leases are valid, since respondents, on appeal, withdrew their request for an accounting and payment of sums due under past leases. In addition, the trial court's further actions cannot affect the State Supreme Court's ruling that § 27- 34 (B) is invalid. ”

“ Second, since those lands were granted to the States under the authority of the Enabling Act itself, they could not be regarded as unburdened by its mandatory conditions. In consequence, the New Mexico Supreme Court erred in concluding that because "Congress did not intend to grant to the state any mineral lands . . . it follows that the state is not controlled nor restricted by said act in regard to leasing said lands for mineral purposes." 27 N.M., at 611, 204 P., at 207. All the lands granted under the Act are granted subject to its conditions. ”

“ Leases for a term of five years or less were exempt from the advertising requirement. Lands could not be sold or leased for less than the values set by an appraisal required by the statute. All proceeds derived from the lands would go to a permanent segregated fund, and interest, but not principal, was to be spent for support of public schools. Arizona incorporated those restrictions in its proposed constitution, Ariz. Const., Art. 10, and was admitted to the Union in 1912.
The grant of lands in the Enabling Act specifically excluded mineral lands, §§ 6, 24, 36 Stat. ”

“ As a result, for example, some of the leases involved in this case might be proper, under the Jones Act, while others would be improper, under the Enabling Act, and the critical difference would rest on a determination, to be made at some future point, whether those lands were known to be mineral in 1910. This is surely not the resolution Congress intended when it passed this statute, and it is neither a sensible n r an appealing one. [4]
In addition, the "as the State legislature may direct" language is not inconsistent with the express restrictions set forth in the Enabling Act. ”

“ Yet here petitioners are the injured parties who seek to invoke the authority of this Court, and they meet the federal standing requirements.↑ One possible distinction between mineral leases and the lease of lands for other purposes is that mineral rights can be difficult to appraise, which might make the Enabling Act's provisions less helpful in this setting. ”

“ If respondents prevailed and increased revenues from state leases were available, maybe taxes would be reduced, or maybe the State would reduce support from other sources so that the money available for schools would be unchanged. Even if the State were to devote more money to schools, it does not follow that there would be an increase in teacher salaries or benefits. ”

“ Complaint ¶ IV. We cannot say with any certainty that this contention is even likely to be correct. The claims raised here, moreover, are the kind of generalized grievances brought by concerned citizens that we have consistently held are not cognizable in the federal courts. ”

“ Instead, they have simply asserted that the Arizona statute governing mineral leases has "deprived the school trust funds of millions of dollars thereby resulting in unnecessarily higher taxes." Complaint ¶ III. Even if the first part of that assertion were correct, however, it is pure speculation whether the lawsuit would result in any actual tax relief for respondents. If they were to prevail, it is conceivable that more money might be devoted to education; but since education in Arizona is not financed solely from the school trust fund, Tr. ”

“ Unlike public condemnation proceedings, however, the private sales and leases at issue here are precisely the kinds of transactions addressed by the federal statutes. bid.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105) . ”