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7th Circuit Limits Taxpayer Standing In Suit Seeking Restitution From Notre Dame

By Howard M. Friedman

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Laskowski v. Spellings, (7th Cir., Oct. 14, 2008) held that federal taxpayers lack standing to sue a private recipient of a federal grant for restitution to the Treasury as a remedy in an otherwise moot Establishment Clause case. The case involved a $500,000 Congressional earmark for Notre Dame University to use to operate a teacher training program. While the suit was pending, the grant expired. This mooted the claim for an injunction against the Secretary of Education. Originally in a 2-1 decision, the 7th Circuit permitted the claim for restitution against Notre Dame to proceed. However, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of its Hein decision. The 7th Circuit now concludes that after Hein, "taxpayers continue to have standing to sue for injunctive relief against specific congressional appropriations alleged to violate the Establishment Clause, but that is all." [Thanks to Derek L. Gaubatz for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on October 17, 2008 (boomark / email).