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Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War No. 72-1188 Argued January 14, 1974 Decided June 25, 1974 418 U.S. 208
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
Syllabus
Respondents -- an association of present and former members of the Armed Forces Reserve opposing United States involvement in Vietnam, and five association members who were United States citizens and taxpayers -- brought a class action on behalf, inter alia, of all United States citizens and taxpayers against petitioners, the Secretary of Defense and the three Service Secretaries, challenging the Reserve membership of Members of Congress as violating the Incompatibility Clause of Art. I, § 6, cl. 2, of the Constitution, which provides that "no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office." The District Court held that respondents had standing to sue as citizens but not as taxpayers, and, on the merits, granted partial relief. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
Held:
1. Respondents had no standing to sue as citizens, since the claimed nonobservance of the Incompatibility Clause which they assert deprives citizens of the faithful discharge of the legislative duties of reservist Members of Congress implicates only the generalized interest of all citizens in constitutional governance, and is thus merely an abstract injury, rather than the concrete injury that is essential to satisfy Art. III’s "case or controversy" requirement. Pp. 216-227.
2. Respondents also lacked standing to sue as taxpayers, since they failed to establish the required "logical nexus between the [taxpayer] status asserted and the claim sought to be adjudicated." Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 102. Pp. 227-228.
162 U.S.App.D.C. 19, 495 F.2d 1075, reversed and remanded.
BURGER, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which STEWART, WHITE, BLACKMUN, POWELL, and REHNQUIST, JJ., joined. STEWART, J., filed a concurring opinion, post, p. 228. DOUGLAS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which MARSHALL, J., joined, post, p. 229. BRENNAN, J., post, p. 235, and MARSHALL, J., post, p. 238, filed dissenting opinions.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974) in 418 U.S. 208 418 U.S. 209. Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WWKEHBZAQ6PI6TA.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974), in 418 U.S. 208, page 418 U.S. 209. Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WWKEHBZAQ6PI6TA.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee, 418 U.S. 208 (1974). cited in 1974, 418 U.S. 208, pp.418 U.S. 209. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=WWKEHBZAQ6PI6TA.
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