Opinion ID: 807042
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Injury to Organizational Plaintiffs

Text: “‘[A]n organization has standing to sue on its own behalf if the defendant’s illegal acts impair its ability to engage in its projects by forcing the organization to divert resources to counteract those illegal acts.’” Common Cause/Ga. v. Billups, 554 F.3d 1340, 1350 (11th Cir. 2009) (quoting Browning, 522 F.3d at 1165). In 4 We are also reluctant to hold that a state could insulate a statute from a preenforcement constitutional challenge by simply adding a layer of probable cause that another crime has been committed. To endorse this result would undermine the longstanding principle that a plaintiff “should not be required to await and undergo a criminal prosecution as the sole means of seeking relief.” Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 188, 93 S. Ct. 739, 745 (1973). 11 Case: 11-13044 Date Filed: 08/20/2012 Page: 12 of 33 Common Cause, we found that an organizational plaintiff suffered cognizable injury when it was forced to “divert resources from its regular activities to educate and assist [affected individuals] in complying with the [challenged] statute.” Id. Browning presented an injury similar to that in Common Cause, and we found organizational standing proper in that case on the ground that the organizations “reasonably anticipate[d] that they [would] have to divert personnel and time to educating volunteers and [affected individuals] on compliance” with the statute’s requirements. 522 F.3d at 1165–66. Because several organizational plaintiffs here claim injuries analogous to those present in Common Cause and Browning, we are satisfied that they meet the minimum requirements of Article III. First, plaintiff Coalition of Latino Leaders (CLL) has shown that H.B. 87 has strained its limited resources and will continue to do so. CLL provides services to the Latino community that include citizenship classes, language classes, and assistance in completing legal documents for residency and naturalization. The enactment of H.B. 87 caused CLL to receive an increased number of inquiries about the law, forcing it to divert volunteer time and resources to educating affected members of the community and fielding inquiries. As a result, CLL has cancelled citizenship classes to focus on these effects. According to CLL, “these problems will only get worse if the bill goes into effect.” For 12 Case: 11-13044 Date Filed: 08/20/2012 Page: 13 of 33 similar reasons, we find that plaintiffs Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and Task Force for the Homeless also have standing because both organizations have diverted resources to educate their members, staff, and volunteers on the consequences of the law.