Flast v. Cohen
- Decided
- June 10, 1968
- Docket
- 416
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
Cited 3,484 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- recognizing that a justiciability decision must involve policy considerations because "its utilization is the resultant of many subtle pressures" — (untitled) (1987)
- holding that taxpayers had standing to challenge the Government's subsidy to parochial schools on Establishment Clause grounds — Knutson v. Bronner (1998)
- holding that taxpayers have .standing to challenge spending on. textbooks on the grounds that the spending is prohibited by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment — Walker v. Flitton (2005)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
[*85] Mr. Chief Justice Warren delivered the opinion of the Court.
In Frothingham v. Mellon, 262 U. S. 447 (1923), this Court ruled that a federal taxpayer is without standing to challenge the constitutionality of a federal statute. That ruling has stood for 45 years as an impenetrable barrier to suits against Acts of Congress brought by individuals who can assert only the interest of federal taxpayers. In this case, we must decide whether the Frothingham barrier should be lowered when a taxpayer attacks a federal statute on the ground that it violates the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment.
Appellants filed suit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to enjoin the allegedly unconstitutional expenditure of federal funds under Titles I and II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 79 Stat. 27, 20 U. S. C. §§ 241a et seg., 821 et seq. (1964 ed., Supp. II). The complaint alleged that the seven appellants had as a common attribute that “each pay[s] income taxes of the United States,” and it is clear from the complaint that the appellants were resting their standing to maintain the action solely on their status as federal taxpayers.[1] The appellees, who are charged by Congress with administering the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, were sued in their official capacities.
Statutes cited
- 20 U.S.C. § 241a
- 20 U.S.C. § 241e
- 20 U.S.C. § 241f
- 20 U.S.C. § 821
- 20 U.S.C. § 823
- 28 U.S.C. § 2282
- 28 U.S.C. § 1253
Cite this
Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83 (1968)Read the full opinion
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