Standing Awkwardly In An Ill-fitting Suit

We've all heard people say, "I'll sue you," and I'm sure you're aware of the recent news stories proclaiming, House Grants Boehner Authority to Sue Obama. However you may not realize that both statements, while colloquially acceptable, are logically and legally inaccurate.

How so?

Allow me to bring a bit of jurisprudential and linguistic clarity into your life.

sue (soo) v. sued, su·ing, sues v.tr. 1. Law a. To petition (a court) for redress of grievances or recovery of a right. b. To institute proceedings against (a person) for redress of grievances. c. To carry (an action) through to a final decision. 2. To court; woo. 3. Obsolete To make a petition to; appeal to; beseech. v.intr. 1. Law To institute legal proceedings; bring suit. 2. To make an appeal or entreaty: "I sue for grace, and thou deny'st me" (Francis Quarles). 3. To pay court; woo. [Middle English sewen, from Anglo-Norman suer, from Vulgar Latin *sequere, to follow, from Latin sequi; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots.] su'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Diversionary Note: the original meaning of the word persists in many words and explains why a man who pursues a woman asking for her hand in marriage is called a suitor, who is courting her.

In the legal sense, I cannot sue you or anyone else whom I believe to have caused me injury or loss. Likewise, the House of Representatives cannot give John Boehner authority to sue the President.

A person who suffers injury or loss does not sue the person who caused the injury or loss. He or she (now known as the plaintiff) must sue a court, asking it to institute proceedings against the other party for redress of grievances.

In civil law such suits are quite common and occur over all manner and size of grievances. In disagreements involving the federal government, however, a plaintiff must have standing in order for a court to take up the case. This means that the plaintiff must possess:

The legally protectible stake or interest that an individual has in a dispute that entitles him to bring the controversy before the court to obtain judicial relief. 

Standing, sometimes referred to as standing to sue, is the name of the federal law doctrine that focuses on whether a prospective plaintiff can show that some personal legal interest has been invaded by the defendant. It is not enough that a person is merely interested as a member of the general public in the resolution of the dispute. The person must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy.

Whether Mr. Boehner and the GOP-controlled House of Representatives have standing has yet to be determined. One might reasonably assume and hope that arguments over differences in political philosophy do not constitute grounds for granting standing in federal court.

Recent decisions by the Supreme Court, however, may have altered the definition of of standing just as they have changed the scope of first amendment rights. Consider this Jen Sorensen comic:

Link to Source

It now appears likely that the size of a plaintiff's bank account may determine whether standing is granted. If this is so, and given the wealth of the newly-minted "people corporations" created by the Roberts court, the only standing average citizens can expect will be found in unemployment lines and soup kitchens.