''Massachusetts v. Mellon'', 262 U.S. 447 (1923), 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 in which the Court rejected the concept of
taxpayer standing. The case was consolidated with ''Frothingham v. Mellon''. The plaintiffs in the cases, Frothingham and Massachusetts, sought to prevent certain federal government expenditures which they considered to violate the
Tenth Amendment. The court rejected the suits on the basis that neither plaintiff suffered particularized harm, writing:
This case is considered the beginning of the doctrine of
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 ...
. Prior to it the doctrine was that all persons had a right to pursue a private prosecution of a
public right.
The
Warren Court
The Warren Court was the period in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States during which Earl Warren served as Chief Justice. Warren replaced the deceased Fred M. Vinson as Chief Justice in 1953, and Warren remained in office until ...
would later carve out an exception to this rule in ''
Flast v. Cohen'', but later cases have confirmed that ''Flast'' is an exceedingly limited exception to ''Frothingham'' general rule (see ''
Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State'' and ''
Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation
''Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation'', 551 U.S. 587 (2007), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court which ruled that taxpayers do not have the right to challenge the constitutionality of expendi ...
'').
References
External links
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United States Constitution Article Three case law
United States Supreme Court cases
1923 in United States case law
United States standing case law
Overruled United States Supreme Court decisions
United States Supreme Court cases of the Taft Court
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