Opinion ID: 391390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Does the case present a live controversy?

Text: 43 The first related question is whether there exists a live controversy between the defendants and at least some unnamed member of the plaintiffs' purported classes. As the Court recently explained in United States Parole Commission v. Geraghty, 445 U.S. 388, 100 S.Ct. 1202, 63 L.Ed.2d 479 (1980), the mootness doctrine has two aspects: a justiciable case must continue at each stage of the litigation (1) to present a live controversy, and (2) to be urged before the court by parties who have a personal stake in that controversy. 415 U.S. at 396. The controversy involved in this case is undoubtedly still live despite the mootness of the named plaintiffs' individual claims. The classes which the plaintiffs seek to represent contain at least some number of persons who sold B&W securities during the periods at issue. If the named plaintiffs or their successors establish their case on the merits, these persons will be entitled to recover damages from the defendants. Whether the plaintiffs will actually prevail on the merits is of course irrelevant to the mootness question. Cruz v. Hauk, 627 F.2d 710, 715 (5th Cir. 1980). The case before us, therefore, rests not on whether there exists a live controversy, but on whether the district court has before it some plaintiff with a personal stake in that controversy. Cf. Satterwhite v. City of Greenville, 634 F.2d 231 (5th Cir. 1981) (en banc ) (remanding to the district court, because of the inadequate development of the record, for a determination of whether a live controversy existed in the case). 44