Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_l6gn.pdf
Page Number: 15.0

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

7 

Opinion of the Court 

II 

Before turning to the merits, we must assure ourselves of 
our  jurisdiction.  See  Summers  v.  Earth  Island  Institute, 
555  U. S.  488,  499  (2009).    UNC  argues  that  SFFA  lacks 
standing  to  bring  its  claims  because  it  is  not  a  “genuine” 
membership  organization.    Brief  for  University  Respond-
ents in No. 21–707, pp. 23–26.  Every court to have consid-
ered this argument has rejected it, and so do we.  See Stu-
dents  for  Fair  Admissions,  Inc.  v.  University  of  Tex.  at 
Austin, 37 F. 4th 1078, 1084–1086, and n. 8 (CA5 2022) (col-
lecting cases).

Article III of the Constitution limits “[t]he judicial power 
of the United States” to “cases” or “controversies,” ensuring
that federal courts act only “as a necessity in the determi-
nation  of  real,  earnest  and  vital”  disputes.  Muskrat  v. 
United States, 219 U. S. 346, 351, 359 (1911) (internal quo-
tation marks omitted).  “To state a case or controversy un-
der Article III, a plaintiff must establish standing.”  Arizona 
Christian  School  Tuition  Organization  v.  Winn,  563  U. S. 
125,  133  (2011).    That,  in  turn,  requires  a  plaintiff  to
demonstrate  that  it  has  “(1)  suffered  an  injury  in  fact,
(2) that is fairly traceable to the challenged conduct of the 
defendant, and (3) that is likely to be redressed by a favor-
able  judicial  decision.”  Spokeo,  Inc.  v.  Robins,  578  U. S. 
330, 338 (2016).

In cases like these, where the plaintiff is an organization, 
the standing requirements of Article III can be satisfied in
two ways.  Either the organization can claim that it suffered
an  injury  in  its  own  right  or,  alternatively,  it  can  assert 
“standing  solely  as  the  representative  of  its  members.” 
Warth v. Seldin, 422 U. S. 490, 511 (1975).  The latter ap-
proach  is  known  as  representational  or  organizational 
standing.  Ibid.; Summers, 555 U. S., at 497–498.  To invoke 
it, an organization must demonstrate that “(a) its members
would  otherwise  have  standing  to  sue  in  their  own  right;