Legal standing

Definition and stakes

Portrait of Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v…

Will the action challenged at any time substantially affect the 'legal' interests of any person? A litigant ordinarily has standing to challenge governmental action of a sort that, if taken by a private person, would create a right of action cognizable by the courts. United States v. Lee, 106 U.S. 196, 1 S.Ct. 240, 27 L.Ed. 171. [1] Or standing may be based on an interest created by the Constitution or a statute.
Source: Wikisource

Portrait of Earl Warren Earl Warren Flast v. Cohen — Opinion of the Court

Standing has been called one of 'the must amorphous (concepts) in the entire domain of public law.' [18] Some of the complexities peculiar to standing problems result because standing 'serves, on occasion, as a shorthand expression for all the various elements of justiciability.' [19] In addition, there are at work in the standing doctrine the many subtle pressures which tend to cause policy considerations to blend into constitutional limitations.
Source: Wikisource

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