Page:United States v. Texas (2023).pdf/18

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Cite as: 599 U. S. ____ (2023)
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Gorsuch, J., concurring in judgment

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES


No. 22–58


UNITED STATES, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. TEXAS, ET AL.
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
[June 23, 2023]

Justice Gorsuch, with whom Justice Thomas and Justice Barrett join, concurring in the judgment.

The Court holds that Texas and Louisiana lack Article III standing to challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law. I agree. But respectfully, I diagnose the jurisdictional defect differently. The problem here is redressability.

I

Article III vests federal courts with the power to decide “Cases” and “Controversies.” Standing doctrine honors the limitations inherent in this assignment by ensuring judges attend to actual harms rather than abstract grievances. “If individuals and groups could invoke the authority of a federal court to forbid what they dislike for no more reason than they dislike it, we would risk exceeding the judiciary’s limited constitutional mandate and infringing on powers committed to other branches of government.” American Legion v. American Humanist Assn., 588 U. S. ___, ___ (2019) (Gorsuch, J., concurring in judgment) (slip op., at 3).

To establish standing to sue in federal court, a plaintiff must show that it has suffered a concrete and particularized injury, one that is both traceable to the defendant and redressable by a court order. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U. S. 555, 560–561 (1992). If a plaintiff fails