Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-58_i425.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

Cite as:  599 U. S. ____ (2023) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

II 

Article III of the Constitution confines the federal judicial 
power to “Cases” and “Controversies.”  Under Article III, a 
case or controversy can exist only if a plaintiff has standing 
to  sue—a  bedrock  constitutional  requirement  that  this
Court has applied to all manner of important disputes.  See, 
e.g., TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 594 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) 
(slip op., at 7); California v. Texas, 593 U. S. ___, ___ (2021) 
(slip  op.,  at  4);  Carney  v.  Adams,  592  U. S.  ___,  ___–___ 
(2020) (slip op., at 4–5); Hollingsworth v. Perry, 570 U. S. 
693,  704  (2013);  Clapper  v.  Amnesty  Int’l  USA,  568  U. S. 
398, 408 (2013); Raines v. Byrd, 521 U. S. 811, 818 (1997); 
Lujan  v.  Defenders  of  Wildlife,  504  U. S.  555,  559–560 
(1992);  Allen  v.  Wright,  468  U. S.  737,  750  (1984); 
Schlesinger v. Reservists Comm. to Stop the War, 418 U. S. 
208, 215 (1974); United States v. Richardson, 418 U. S. 166, 
171 (1974).

As this Court’s precedents amply demonstrate, Article III 
standing  is  “not  merely  a  troublesome  hurdle  to  be 
overcome if possible so as to reach the ‘merits’ of a lawsuit 
which a party desires to have adjudicated; it is a part of the 
basic  charter  promulgated  by  the  Framers  of  the 
Constitution  at  Philadelphia  in  1787.”  Valley  Forge 
Christian  College  v.  Americans  United  for  Separation  of 
Church  and  State,  Inc.,  454  U. S.  464,  476  (1982).    The 
principle  of  Article  III standing  is  “built  on  a  single  basic
idea—the idea of separation of powers.”  Allen, 468 U. S., at 
752.  Standing  doctrine  helps  safeguard  the  Judiciary’s 
proper—and  properly  limited—role  in  our  constitutional 
system.  By ensuring that a plaintiff has standing to sue, 
federal courts “prevent the judicial process from being used
to usurp the powers of the political branches.”  Clapper, 568 
U. S., at 408.