''Diamond v. Charles'', 476 U.S. 54 (1986), was a
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
case that determined that citizens do not have
Article III standing
Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an ''erect'' ("orthostatic") position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the s ...
to challenge the constitutionality of a state statute in federal court unless they possess a "direct stake" in the outcome.
Background
Four
physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s who provided
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
services in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
filed a
class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
lawsuit in the
to challenge a 1979 amendment to the ''Illinois Abortion Law of 1975'' which required doctors to provide a "parental consultation" before performing an abortion. This regulation added to the ''Illinois Abortion Parental Consent Act of 1977'', which required written consent from both parents or the guardian of an unmarried minor before obtaining an abortion and imposed a 48-hour waiting period. If parental consent could not be obtained or was refused, the minor could seek court-authorized consent upon showing that "the pregnant minor fully understands the consequences of an abortion to her and her unborn child." Notice of the hearing was required to be sent to the parents by registered or certified mail.
On October 31, 1979, the district court granted the physicians'
motion
In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and mea ...
for a temporary
restraining order
A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Restraining and personal protection or ...
in ''Charles v. Carey'', 627 F.2d 772 (7th Cir. 1980), barring enforcement of the amended law. The State of Illinois did not appeal the finding that the amendment was unconstitutional. Eugene Diamond, on the basis of his conscientious objection to abortions, his status as a
pediatrician
Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
, and as a parent of a minor daughter, filed a motion to intervene as a defendant of the law.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in dismissing the appeal, said "because the State alone is entitled to create a legal code, only the State has the kind of 'direct stake' identified in the Court's standing doctrine in defending the standards embodied in that code." The Court also said that Article III standing "is not to be placed in the hands of 'concerned bystanders,' who will use it simply as a 'vehicle for the vindication of value interests.'"
See also
* ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973)
External links
*
{{USArticleIII
United States Constitution Article Three case law
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court
1986 in United States case law
United States abortion case law
United States standing case law