Opinion ID: 1927385
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Jurisdiction/Standing/Mootness Primary Appeal and Cross-Appeal

Text: The Chevron arguments by both GMC and the County are premised upon the assumption that the continued viability of GMC's cross-appeal in the Superior Court was dependent upon a prospective application of Chrysler to the County's primary appeal. Both GMC and the County are also under the impression that, if the Chrysler holding is applied retroactively, the County's primary appeal to the Superior Court will become void ab initio. An analysis of these assumptions and impressions by both parties requires this Court to parse three related but distinct legal principles: subject matter jurisdiction; standing; and mootness. The primary appellate function of this Court and the Superior Court is to review and decide actual controversies. See Del. Const. art. IV, § 11; Stroud v. Milliken Enterprises, Del.Supr., 552 A.2d 476, 479 (1989). [4] Unlike the Superior Court, this Court does have limited jurisdiction, pursuant to the Delaware Constitution, to answer certified questions of law. Del. Const. art. IV, § 11(9). The Justices of this Court, as distinguished from the Delaware Supreme Court itself, are also authorized to render advisory opinions in certain circumstances. 10 Del.C. § 141. Even in those circumstances, however, the Justices do not answer questions that have become moot. See Opinion of Justices, Del.Supr, 653 A.2d 840 (1994). According to the mootness doctrine, although there may have been a justiciable controversy at the time the litigation was commenced, the action will be dismissed if that controversy ceases to exist. Glazer v. Pasternak, Del.Supr., 693 A.2d 319, 320 (1997). Accord Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Haworth, 300 U.S. 227, 240-41, 57 S.Ct. 461, 463-64, 81 L.Ed. 617 (1937). [5] A proceeding may become moot in one of two ways: if the legal issue in dispute is no longer amenable to a judicial resolution; or, if a party has been divested of standing. Standing is the requisite interest that must exist in the outcome of the litigation at the time the action is commenced. The test of standing is whether: 1) there is a claim of injury-in-fact; and 2) the interest sought to be protected is arguably within the zone of interest to be protected or regulated by the statute or constitutional guarantee in question. Gannett Co. v. State, Del.Supr., 565 A.2d 895, 897 (1989). A party must have continued standing throughout the pendency of the action to avoid an invocation of the mootness doctrine. Unlike the federal courts, where standing may be subject to stated constitutional limits, state courts apply the concept of standing as a matter of self-restraint to avoid the rendering of advisory opinions.... Stuart Kingston, Inc. v. Robinson, Del.Supr., 596 A.2d 1378, 1382 (1991). A change in the parties' standing may result from a myriad of subsequent legal or factual causes that occur while the litigation is in progress. [6] For example, when two proceedings are pending simultaneously and each involves the same issue, a binding decision in one court will moot that issue in the second court. Moore's Federal Practice, Vol. 19 § 101.96. See also Moore's Federal Practice, Vol. 19 § 101.90; Powder River Basin Resource Council v. Babbitt, 10th Cir., 54 F.3d 1477, 1484-85 (1995); Enrico's Inc. v. Rice, 9th Cir., 730 F.2d 1250, 1253-54 (1984).