Flast v. Cohen

Summary

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.[1]

Flast v. Cohen
Argued March 12, 1968
Decided June 10, 1968
Full case nameFlast et al. v. Cohen, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare et al.
Citations392 U.S. 83 (more)
88 S. Ct. 1942; 20 L. Ed. 2d 947; 1968 U.S. LEXIS 1347
Case history
PriorThree-judge court convened, Flast v. Gardner, 267 F. Supp. 351 (S.D.N.Y. 1967); dismissed for lack of standing, Flast v. Gardner, 271 F. Supp. 1 (S.D.N.Y. 1967); probable jurisdiction noted, 389 U.S. 895 (1967).
Holding
Taxpayers have standing to sue to prevent the disbursement of federal funds in contravention of the specific constitutional prohibition against government support of religion.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr.
Potter Stewart · Byron White
Abe Fortas · Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
MajorityWarren, joined by Black, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, White, Fortas, Marshall
ConcurrenceDouglas
ConcurrenceStewart
ConcurrenceFortas
DissentHarlan
Laws applied
U.S. Const. Art. I, Sec. 8, Art. III

The Supreme Court decided in Frothingham v. Mellon (1923), that a taxpayer did not have standing to sue the federal government to prevent expenditures if his only injury is an anticipated increase in taxes. Frothingham v. Mellon did not recognize a constitutional barrier against federal taxpayer lawsuits. Rather, it denied standing because the petitioner did not allege "a breach by Congress of the specific constitutional limitations imposed upon an exercise of the taxing and spending power." Because the purpose of standing is to avoid burdening the court with situations in which there is no real controversy, standing is used to ensure that the parties in the suit are properly adversarial, "not whether the issue itself is justiciable."

In 1968, Florance Flast joined several others in filing a lawsuit against Wilbur Cohen, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, contending that spending funds on religious schools violated the First Amendment's ban on the establishment of religion. The district court denied standing, and the Supreme Court heard the appeal.

Decision edit

On June 10, 1968, the Court issued an 8-1 decision. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Earl Warren established a "double nexus" test which a taxpayer must satisfy in order to have standing. First, he must "establish a logical link between [taxpayer] status and the type of legislative enactment attacked." Second, "show that the challenged enactment exceeds specific constitutional limitations upon the exercise of the taxing and spending power and not simply that the enactment is generally beyond the powers delegated to Congress by Article I, Section 8." Only when both nexuses have been satisfied may the petitioner have standing to sue.[2]

Ruling edit

The Court ruled that petitioners had satisfied both nexuses and therefore had standing to sue as taxpayers. First, their Constitutional challenge concerned expenditures contained within a law passed pursuant to Congress's Article I, Section 8 power to spend for the general welfare. Second, the law at issue allocated funds to parochial schools and therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The Court, however, expressed "no view at all on the merits of appellants' claims in this case."

Concurring Opinions edit

Justice William O. Douglas advocated dealing with the seeming contradiction by overturning Frothingham completely.

Justice Potter Stewart also concurred, emphasizing the ruling permitted standing where "a specific expenditure of federal funds violates the Establishment Clause." Justice Abe Fortas wrote similarly but advocated further to "confine the ruling" strictly to cases of federal expenditure in violation of the Establishment Clause.

Dissent edit

In a strongly worded dissent, Justice John Marshall Harlan argued against the majority's decision. Harlan believed that Frothingham was correct in its conclusion, despite his disagreement with some of its reasoning. He argued that the United States collects and holds taxes not as a "stakeholder or trustee" for taxpayers, but as a "surrogate for the population at large." Therefore, in alignment with Frothingham, Harlan believed that individuals did not have standing as taxpayers to sue over federal expenditures. He also expressed concern about the potential abuse of public actions, legal actions brought on behalf of the public, resulting from this ruling. Harlan argued that this ruling would upset the balance of powers, leading the Court towards becoming the "Council of Revision" as proposed but ultimately rejected in the Constitutional Convention.

Significance edit

The Flast decision is most significant in contributing to establishing a standard for taxpayer standing; however, the Flast test has been primarily limited to cases rising under the Establishment Clause.[3]

Flast test edit

The Court developed a two-part test to determine whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue. First, because a taxpayer alleges injury only by virtue of his liability for taxes, the Court held that "a taxpayer will be a proper party to allege the unconstitutionality only of exercises of congressional power under the taxing and spending clause of Art. I, § 8, of the Constitution." *479 Id., at 102, 88 S.Ct., at 1954. Second, the Court required the taxpayer to "show that the challenged enactment exceeds specific constitutional limitations upon the exercise of the taxing and spending power and not simply that the enactment is generally beyond the powers delegated to Congress by Art. I, § 8." Id., at 102-103, 88 S.Ct., at 1954."

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83 (1968).
  2. ^ Kahan, R.L (1968). "Federal Taxpayers and Standing: Flast v. Cohen". UCLA Law Review. 16: 444.
  3. ^ "Standing Requirement: Taxpayer Standing". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved March 28, 2024.

Sources edit

  • Bogen, David S. (1978). "Standing up for Flast: Taxpayer and Citizen Standing to Raise Constitutional Issues". Kentucky Law Journal. 67: 147.
  • Davis, Kenneth Culp (1970). "The Liberalized Law of Standing". University of Chicago Law Review. 37 (3): 450–473. doi:10.2307/1599038. JSTOR 1599038.

External links edit

  • Text of Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83 (1968) is available from: Google Scholar  Justia  Library of Congress  Oyez (oral argument audio)