Also known as: stands to assert rights of others · third-party standing · jus tertii
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A doctrine in constitutional law that permits a litigant to assert the constitutional rights of third parties. The litigant must have suffered its own injury and the third parties must confront practical obstacles that make it difficult for them to assert their own rights. Disclosure of the third parties identities that would itself chill the rights at stake supplies one recognized obstacle.
Mountain Plastics, a manufacturers alliance, sued the State of Washington to block an order that would force public release of its member companies names. The members feared boycotts and lost state contracts if identified. The alliance proceeded on their behalf because requiring each member to sue individually would expose the very identities the members sought to protect.
Sebastian Santos operated a retail outlet that sold contraceptives. State law barred distribution to unmarried persons. Santos challenged the statute on behalf of his unmarried customers who faced practical barriers to bringing their own claims because of the intimate nature of the rights involved.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Americans United objected to a federal land conveyance to Valley Forge Christian College. The organization claimed the transfer violated the Establishment Clause on behalf of its members who objected to the use of public property for religious purposes. The members encountered practical obstacles to suing individually because the injury was diffuse and the organization was best positioned to litigate the claim.
Sabrina Shah owned a convenience store licensed to sell low-alcohol beer. Oklahoma law prohibited sales to men aged 18 to 20 but permitted sales to women of the same age. Shah challenged the statute on behalf of her male customers who faced practical obstacles to asserting their own equal-protection claims.
Citizens United produced a film critical of a political candidate. Federal election law restricted corporate independent expenditures. The corporation asserted the First Amendment rights of its members and contributors who would have faced practical obstacles to litigating individually because their political speech would have been chilled by disclosure requirements.
The American Legion erected a cross-shaped monument on public land. The American Humanist Association sued on behalf of its members who objected to the display. The members encountered practical obstacles to suing individually because the injury was widely shared and the organization was positioned to present the claim without requiring each member to disclose personal objections.
An organization may assert third-party standing when at least one member has suffered injury in fact, the interests at stake are germane to the organizations purpose, and neither the claim nor the relief requires individualized member participation. The members must also face practical obstacles to suing on their own. Disclosure of member identities that would itself chill the rights at issue supplies one such obstacle.
No. The litigant must still satisfy Article III injury-in-fact requirements and show that the third parties face genuine practical barriers. Speculative or generalized fears of harm are insufficient. Courts examine whether the obstacle would actually prevent individual suits and whether the litigant has a sufficiently close relationship to the rights holders.
Courts weigh that fact against third-party standing. If members have successfully litigated similar claims on their own, the practical-obstacle requirement is less likely to be met. The presence of alternative avenues for relief undercuts the justification for allowing the organization to stand in the members shoes.
…428 U. S. 106, 123-124 (1976) (POWELL, J., dissenting). These prudential objectives, thought to be enhanced by restrictions on third-party standing, cannot be furthered here, where the lower court already has entertained the relevant constitutional challenge and the parties have sought—or at least have never resisted—an authoritative…