We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Surviving Summers.
- Authors
Lee, Michelle Fon Anne
- Abstract
In Summers v. Earth Island Institute, the Supreme Court held that an organizational plaintiff could not establish standing based on the likelihood of having among its members an injured individual. The standing requirement was not met until that individual and his or her injury were specifically identified. The move apparently reined in the development of "probabilistic" theories of injury. However, the concept of probabilistic injury has not been well defined, and consequently the case law and commentary on probabilistic injury suffer from imprecise and inconsistent reasoning. To clarify the doctrine, this Note proposes that probabilistic injury can be divided into three categories: "uncertain injury" cases, "uncertain plaintiff" cases, and "increased-risk-as-injury" cases. Reading Summers with these categories in mind permits a clearer picture of how Summers affects the concept of probabilistic standing. Summers restricts, or maintains the restrictions on, uncertain injury and uncertain plaintiff cases. Meanwhile, the theory of increased risk as injury survives Summers. Increased risk injuries should be recognized by the Court as cognizable injuries for standing purposes.This recognition is not only constitutionally permissible but also desirable to ensure that meritorious claims are not barred. Increased-risk-as-injury cases, which survive Summers, should continue to survive.
- Subjects
UNITED States; ACTIONS &; defenses (Law); SUMMERS v. Earth Island Institute (Supreme Court case); TRIALS (Law); EARTH Island Institute Inc.; UNITED States. Supreme Court
- Publication
Ecology Law Quarterly, 2010, Vol 37, Issue 2, p381
- ISSN
0046-1121
- Publication type
Article