Summary
U. S. Supreme Court case involving the question of who has standing to appeal a decision blocking enforcement of a state law when the governor of the state chooses not to appeal. The case involves a reapportionment battle, but the question of standing comes up often in cases where CJLF is representing the rights of victims of crime. In some cases, a governor who does not want to enforce a law he disagrees with has blocked that law simply by "taking a dive" in litigation brought by a third party. In this case, CJLF argued that allowing the governor alone to decide whether a federal court injunction against enforcement of a law violates the important state interest in its constitutional separation of powers. Our brief urges that the standing requirement be interpreted widely enough to ensure that such decisions can be reviewed at higher levels of the federal court system. The Supreme Court held that the House of Delegates did not have standing, but its ruling was narrow enough that it is not likely to damage the cause of remedies for crime victims.
