Was the Lorax an Outfitter and Guide? A Shift in Idaho’s Standing Doctrine: Boundary Backpackers v. Boundary County and Selkirk-Priest Basin Association
Posted: 15 Dec 2009
Date Written: December 14, 2009
Abstract
Standing is a threshold determination. Without it, the doors to the courthouse remain closed. In Boundary Backpackers v. Boundary County and Selkirk-Priest Basin Ass'n v. State, the Idaho Supreme Court may have closed its doors to plaintiffs alleging recreational and aesthetic injuries. By characterizing such injuries as generalized grievances not worthy of judicial concern and by emphasizing the economic motives of the one successful plaintiff, the court threatens past conceptions of standing and, more importantly, signals the court's willingness to abdicate judicial responsibility where it is arguably most needed.
Keywords: standing doctrine, environmental governace
JEL Classification: K40, K49
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation