Kucinich et al. v. Obama
Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and eight other members of the House of Representatives have sued the President for injunctive and declaratory relief in connection with the President’s alleged violations of the Declare War Clause and the War Powers Resolution as a result of the Libya intervention.
The main problem with the lawsuit, among others, is that the members of Congress lack standing. As the Complaint states:
The Plaintiffs acknowledge that standing of members has been curtailed in prior judicial o
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Dennis Kucinich, Ron Paul, and eight other members of the House of Representatives have sued the President for injunctive and declaratory relief in connection with the President’s alleged violations of the Declare War Clause and the War Powers Resolution as a result of the Libya intervention.
The main problem with the lawsuit, among others, is that the members of Congress lack standing. As the Complaint states:
The Plaintiffs acknowledge that standing of members has been curtailed in prior judicial opinions, but they believe that these decisions allow for an exception for these claims and that members of Congress must have the ability to seek judicial review in this context. See Raines v. Byrd, 521 U.S. 811 (1997); Campbell v. Clinton, 203 F.3d 19, 21 (D.C. Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 815 (2000).I doubt that these decisions allow “for an exception for these claims” against Obama. Campbell v. Clinton, relying on Raines v. Byrd, rejected on standing grounds practically identical claims in connection with the Kosovo intervention.
Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor at Harvard Law School, co-founder of Lawfare, and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.
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