On January 10, 2022, the Supreme Court declined to review a Second Circuit decision requiring federal trial courts to exercise jurisdiction in cases brought by non-existent plaintiffs who have no stake in the outcome of the litigation. The decision was a disappointment for WLF, which filed an amicus brief urging the Court’s review. That brief advanced three arguments. First, the Second Circuit’s decision contravenes the Supreme Court’s standing jurisprudence by virtually eliminating the case-or-controversy requirement as a meaningful check on federal-court jurisdiction. Second, if left to stand, the Second Circuit’s holding will severely erode the Constitution’s careful separation of powers. And third, the Second Circuit’s decision elevates a procedural rule above a bedrock constitutional duty, in violation of the Rules Enabling Act and Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 82.
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