Court Opinion

ID: 9476500
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:57:26.00564+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:21.248413
License: Public Domain

HARRY T. EDWARDS, Circuit Judge:
I am pleased to concur, without any reservations, in the excellent opinion of Chief Judge Wald. I write only to emphasize the point that, under the ripeness doctrine, the hardship prong of the Abbott Laboratories test is not an independent requirement divorced from the consideration of the institutional interests of the court and agency. Better Government, which I authored, surely cannot reasonably be construed to suggest such a requirement. The precedent in this circuit is clear that a litigant must demonstrate “hardship” only when necessary to outweigh institutional interests that militate in favor of deferral of review.
Indeed, it would make no sense whatsoever to compel a litigant who has a valid case or controversy, cause of action, stand*1089ing and proper jurisdiction to prove some sort of “hardship” before allowing the litigant to seek judicial review. Under such a rule, some litigants might forever be barred from seeking judicial review for want of a showing of “hardship.” The ripeness doctrine was never intended to produce such a principle. The dissent’s suggestion to the contrary is, in my view, flatly wrong.