About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

93 Fordham L. Rev. Online 1 (2024-2025)

handle is hein.journals/resgest15 and id is 1 raw text is: ARTICLE III STANDING IN FEDERAL PROSECUTIONS OF VICTIMLESS CRIMES Ryan H. Nelson* Plaintiffs in federal court bear the burden of proving their standing, as Article III permits inferior federal courts, after Congressional authorization, to exercise jurisdiction over Cases and Controversies alone. From these constitutional terms ofart Cases and Controversies we derive the familiar case-or-controversy requirement of standing, including injury. These terms ofart authorize Congress to empower the inferiorfederal courts to hear civil and criminal actions alike, but federal prosecutors have never been similarly burdened with proving the standing of the United States in federal court, including that the United States has suffered injury. This Essay examines that lapse and contends thatArticle III compels federal prosecutors to shoulder the burden ofproving that the United States has been injured a burden easily carried in all butfederal prosecutions ofso-called victimless crimes where the United States has not been, and never will be, harmed. IN TR O D U CTIO N ................................................................................ . . 1 I. MODERN STANDING JURISPRUDENCE.......................................... 3 II. FEDERAL CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS .......................................... 4 III. IMPLICATIONS AND VIABILITY.................................................. 7 C O N CLU SIO N ................................................................................. . 10 INTRODUCTION Article III, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution delimits the subject matter jurisdiction that Congress may afford to inferior federal courts to Cases and Controversies of different stripes.1 Included are several jurisdictional bases relevant to federal criminal prosecutions: Cases . . . arising under ... the Laws of the United States, which legal scholars generally agree encompasses criminal and civil actions alike, and Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party, which certainly includes civil * Associate Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law Houston. I would like to thank Stephen Dockery, Thomas Hogan, and Amanda J. Peters for their helpful feedback. 1. U.S. CONST. art. III, § 2. 1

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most