Standing Derails Suits on Right to Office; Hello President Schwarzenegger?
A lack of standing is the reason judges tossed lawsuits disputing the citizenship of Barack Obama and John McCain, and the reason a challenge to Hillary Clinton’s right to office is also likely to fail.
Standing concerns have derailed many lawsuits that allege the government is violating the Constitution, the Wall Street Journal reports. U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick cited a lack of standing when he dismissed one lawsuit that contended Obama was not a “natural-born citizen,” a constitutional requirement for the presidency, according to the story.
“Standing has been a consistent barrier to lower courts hearing generalized, undifferentiated claims by voters and citizens,” Surrick wrote. In the present case, he said, a voter who did not suffer individual harm “would have us derail the democratic process by invalidating a candidate for whom millions of people voted and who underwent excessive vetting during what was one of the most hotly contested presidential primaries in living memory.”
Standing is likely to be a barrier to a lawsuit filed by a State Department lawyer who says Hillary Clinton cannot be secretary of state because pay for the position was increased while she was a senator, according to the Wall Street Journal. The lawyer, David Rodearmel, cites the constitutional ban on senators taking any U.S. civil office during their terms if its “emoluments” were increased during that time.
Harvard law professor Mark Tushnet recounted one standing hypothetical for the newspaper. It asks whether a lawsuit could bar California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, from becoming president. Tushnet said it is unlikely that any court would rule against Schwarzenegger.
Standing cases often “arise in the context of constitutional provisions that no longer seem so terribly significant,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
