''United States v. Richardson'', 418 U.S. 166 (1974), 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 concerning

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 ...

in which the Court held a taxpayer's interest in government spending was generalized, and too "undifferentiated" to confer Article III standing to challenge a law which exempted

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

funding from Article I, Section 9 requirements that such expenditures be audited and reported to the public.

Background

In 1949, Congress passed the

Central Intelligence Agency Act The Central Intelligence Agency Act, , is a United States federal law enacted in 1949. The Act, also called the "CIA Act of 1949" or "Public Law 110" permitted the Central Intelligence Agency to use confidential fiscal and administrative proced ...

, which exempted funding for the CIA from financial disclosure. William B. Richardson, an insurance

claims adjuster A claims adjuster, desk adjuster, field adjuster, or general adjuster (claim adjuster, claims handler, claim handler or loss adjuster in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean and New Zealand) investigates insurance cla ...

, first attempted to challenge the CIA Act in 1968, in ''Richardson v. Sekel'', 408 F.2d 844 (3rd Cir. 1969), but the case was unsuccessful at District court and the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Ea ...

denied

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

. In 1972, he tried again, filing suit in the

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, W.D. Pa.) is a federal trial court that sits in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. It is composed of ten judges as authorized by federal ...

. Richardson argued that the Act was in violation of the penultimate clause of

Article I Article One may refer to: Legal codes * Article One of the United States Constitution, pertaining to the powers of the United States Congress * Article One of the Constitution of India, pertaining to the federal nature of the republic Other us ...

, Section 9 of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

, which states "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." The District Court dismissed the case for standing; the Third Circuit, hearing the case ''

en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller ...

,'' reversed; in 1973, the Supreme Court granted certiorari..

Representatives

Robert H. Bork Robert Heron Bork (March 1, 1927 – December 19, 2012) was an American jurist who served as the solicitor general of the United States from 1973 to 1977. A professor at Yale Law School by occupation, he later served as a judge on the U.S. Cour ...

for the United States et al. * Osmond K. Fraenkel for the respondent

Opinion of the Court

Chief Justice

Warren Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the St. Paul Colleg ...

delivered the opinion of the Court, which found that Richardson lacked standing to challenge the Act. noting that any "impact on him is plainly undifferentiated and "common to all members of the public." This failed to meet the standard enunciated in ''

Flast v. Cohen ''Flast v. Cohen'', 392 U.S. 83 (1968), was a United States Supreme Court case holding that a taxpayer has standing to sue the government to prevent an unconstitutional use of taxpayer funds. The Supreme Court decided in '' Frothingham v. Mellon' ...

'' and its predecessor, '' Frothingham v. Mellon.'' Burger concluded:

References

External links

* 1974 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court {{SCOTUS-case-stub