Articles

Can Congress deem someone injured?

July 07, 2015 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

Article III of the United States Constitution allows federal courts to hear only “cases or controversies,” defined as cases brought by plaintiffs who have suffered actual (not speculative) harm that can be redressed by court action. What if a plaintiff’s asserted injury, however, is nothing more than that the defendant violated a ...

Articles

Plaintiffs in federal court must show an actual injury before suing

June 03, 2014 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

Spokeo Inc., runs a website that collects and publishes consumer “credit estimates.”  Thomas Robins, an unemployed man, sued Spokeo for willful violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), alleging that Spokeo published false information, such as Robins was married, had a graduate degree, and was wealthy.  The trial court held ...

Articles

The other mistake the Supreme Court made yesterday

June 29, 2012 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

Largely lost in the hullaballoo yesterday, the Supreme Court dismissed First American v. Edwards as “improvidently granted.”  It did not give any reasons for the dismissal. This case asked whether a plaintiff who suffered no injury whatsoever from a defendant’s technical violation of statute could pursue a class action in federal ...