similar to that used by environmentalists to support a standing to sue the government for violations of the Endangered Species Act. It will be interesting to see if the conservatives and conservative moderates on the Court are more sympathetic to opponents of the ESA provisions.
Justiciability v. Political Questions
The question of whether an issue is justiciable under the Constitution depends largely upon theories of interpretation. Conservatives, such as Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Scalia, tend to espouse the theory of original intent, meaning that the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with the original intent of the framers. More liberal justices, on the other hand, tend to espouse the idea that the Constitution is a document whose meaning evolves with society. These theories are important in this area because justiciability revolves around the interpretation of words and phrases contained in the Constitution.
The contrast between the two approaches is evident in Nixon v. United States. That case invol
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