''Raines v. Byrd'', 521 U.S. 811 (1997), 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 held individual members of Congress do not automatically have standing to litigate the constitutionality of laws affecting Congress as a whole.

Background of the case

The

Line Item Veto Act of 1996 The Line Item Veto Act was a federal law of the United States that granted the President the power to line-item veto budget bills passed by Congress, but its effect was brief as the act was soon ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in '' ...

allowed the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

to nullify certain provisions of appropriations bills, and disallowed the use of funds from canceled provisions for offsetting

deficit spending Within the budgetary process, deficit spending is the amount by which spending exceeds revenue over a particular period of time, also called simply deficit, or budget deficit; the opposite of budget surplus. The term may be applied to the budget ...

in other areas. At its passage, the Act was politically controversial, with many Democrats breaking with Clinton to oppose it. Of the opposition, six members of Congress, including Republican

Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Appropr ...

, sued to prevent use of the line-item veto. U.S. District Court Judge

Thomas Penfield Jackson Thomas Penfield Jackson (January 10, 1937 – June 15, 2013) was an American jurist who served as a United States District federal judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Education and career Born in Washington, ...

found the Act unconstitutional.

Opinion of the Court

The Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs lacked

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 sue, as they had not suffered any particularized injury. The courts reasoning held that individual members of Congress were subject to strict limits on their ability to sue, particularly in a dispute between different branches of government.

Subsequent events

After taking effect, the Act was in 1998 found unconstitutional in ''

Clinton v. City of New York ''Clinton v. City of New York'', 524 U.S. 417 (1998), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 6–3, that the line-item veto, as granted in the Line Item Veto Act of 1996, violated the Presentme ...

.''

References

External links

* 1997 in United States case law United States Constitution Article Three case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Rehnquist Court {{SCOTUS-case-stub