Constitutional US Law

Tag: Judicial Power

  • Real Interest

    The Requirement of a Real InterestAlmost inseparable from the requirements of adverse parties and substantial enough interests to confer standing is the requirement that a real issue be presented, as contrasted with speculative, abstract, hypothetical, or moot issues. It has long been the Court'…

  • Power to Issue Writs

    Power to Issue Writs: The Act of 1789From the beginning of government under the Constitution of 1789, Congress has assumed, under the Necessary and Proper Clause, its power to establish inferior courts, its power to regulate the jurisdiction of federal courts, and its power to regulate the issuance …

  • Taxpayer Suits

    Taxpayer SuitsSave for a narrow exception, standing is also lacking when a litigant attempts to sue to contest governmental action that he claims injures him as a taxpayer. In Frothingham v. Mellon,1 the Court denied standing to a taxpayer suing to r…

  • Baker v. Carr

    The Doctrine Before Baker v. CarrOver the years, the political question doctrine has been applied to preclude adjudication of a variety of other issues. In particular, prior to Baker v. Carr,1 cases challenging the distribution of political power thr…

  • Common Law Powers

    Common Law Powers of District of Columbia CourtsThe portion of § 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that authorized the Supreme Court to issue writs of mandamus in the exercise of its original jurisdiction was held invalid in Marbury v. Madison,1 a…

  • Constitutional Standards

    Constitutional Standards: Injury in Fact, Causation, and RedressabilityAlthough the Court has been inconsistent, it has now settled upon the rule that "at an irreducible minimum" the constitutional requisites under Article III for the existence of standing are that the plaintiff must perso…

  • Political Questions Doctrine

    The Doctrine Before Baker v. CarrOver the years, the political question doctrine has been applied to preclude adjudication of a variety of other issues. In particular, prior to Baker v. Carr,1 cases challenging the distribution of political power thr…

  • Process of the Writ

    Habeas Corpus: The Process of the WritA petition for a writ of habeas corpus is filed by or on behalf of a person in "custody," a concept which has been expanded so much that it is no longer restricted to actual physical detention in jail or prison.<a name=t1 href=#f1 target="_self&qu…

  • Prudential Standing Rules

    Prudential Standing RulesEven when Article III constitutional standing rules have been satisfied, the Court has held that principles of prudence may counsel the judiciary to refuse to adjudicate some claims.1 The rule is "not meant to be especia…

  • Powell v. McCormack

    Powell v. McCormackBecause Baker had apparently restricted the political question doctrine to intrafederal issues, there was no discussion of the doctrine when the Court held that it had power to review and overturn a state legislature's refusal to seat a member-elect because of his expressed vi…

  • Injunctive Power

    Congressional Limitation of the Injunctive PowerAlthough some judicial dicta 1 support the idea of an inherent power of the federal courts sitting in equity to issue injunctions independently of statutory limitations, neither the course taken by Cong…

  • Rights of Others

    Standing to Assert the Rights of OthersUsually, one may assert only one's interest in the litigation and not challenge the constitutionality of a statute or a governmental action because it infringes the protectable rights of someone else.1 In Ti…

  • Contempt

    Sanctions of the Investigatory Power: ContemptExplicit judicial recognition of the right of either house of Congress to commit for contempt a witness who ignores its summons or refuses to answer its inquiries dates from McGrain v. Daugherty.1 But the…

  • Emergency Price Control Act of 1942

    Injunctions Under the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942Lockerty v. Phillips 1 justifies the same conclusion. Here the validity of the special appeals procedure of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 was sustained. This act provided for a specia…

  • Organizational Standing

    Organizational StandingOrganizations do not have standing as such to represent their particular concept of the public interest, 1 but organizations have been permitted to assert the rights of their members.<a name=t2 href=#f2 target="_self"…