The Secretary of Defense closed the Valley Forge General Hospital in an effort to reduce
the number of military installations. Part of the former hospital’s land was given
free-of-charge to the Valley Forge Christian College. The group Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, Inc. alleged that this improperly assisted the religious
college.
By a 5-4 vote, the Court permitted the grant to stand.
|
Majority Opinion: (Justice Rehnquist) |
The Court did not need to discuss the specifics of the land grant because the members of
Americans United did not have standing to sue. The group claimed that they had standing
as taxpayers, but this was rejected. First, they failed to identify a personal injury.
They alleged that they were harmed by the “depriv[ation] of the fair and constitutional
use of [their] tax dollar”. This was not determined to be a sufficient injury.
Furthermore, “standing is not measured by the intensity of the litigant’s interest or
the fervor of his advocacy.” The other reason that the group did not have standing was
that the source of the complaint was not a Congressional action. The transfer of
property was not an exercise of the authority conferred by the taxation and spending
clause of the Constitution. Therefore, their taxpayer status did not entitle them to
have standing in this case. Since the Supreme Court is only to settle ‘real’ disputes,
it cannot make a decision in this case because the group suing does not qualify as a
party in this case.
The Court neglected to determine the constitutionality of the grant. It avoided doing so
by placing a high criteria that must be met in order for a group to be able to sue. As
a result, it is more difficult to challenge questionable acts. Groups like Americans
United cannot challenge an act merely because it believes that the act is
unconstitutional.
| RealAudio
of Oral Argument |
[from http://oyez.nwu.edu].
Oral Argument.
Get the RealAudio Player from Progressive Networks to
listen to the argument.
Copyright © The Religious Freedom Page.
|
