Conservatives Find New Appreciation for Liberal Standing Rules
Conservative politicians eager to see judges strike down the new health care law and stop embryonic stem cell research are expressing a newfound appreciation for the dry legal doctrine of standing.
That’s the view of Linda Greenhouse, the former Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times. Writing at the newspaper’s Opinionator blog, she says some once-conservative judges are of a like mind, “suddenly throwing the courthouse doors open wide” in disputes over standing.
The health care law is being opposed by GOP state attorneys general in two separate suits, while the plaintiffs seeking to block stem cell research include two Christian groups and two scientists. Standing is an issue in both sets of litigation.
Greenhouse says she’s staying tuned for the Supreme Court battles ahead. “Personally, I can hardly wait to watch Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and his allies, for whom raising the barriers to standing is a core part of their agenda, figure out how to respond when one of the new issues reaches the Supreme Court,” she writes.
