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June 23, 2005
Alons v. Iowa District Court - Lack of Standing to Challenge Dissolution of Civil Union
As widely expected, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected a third-party challenge to a district court decree dissolving a Vermont civil union. The case, Alons v. Iowa District Court was brought by several persons in various representative and individual capacities and one religious organization. Each claimed that they had standing to challenge the underlying decree, despite the fact that none of the challenging parties was a litigant in the underlying dissolution action.
After exhaustively analyzing the legal requirements for standing and each particular appellant's claim that he, she, or it somehow did have standing, the Court rejected every claim without reaching an discussion of the substantive merits raised by each appellant. Here's the money quote from the decision:
Finally, we agree with the amicus’s observation that '[m]any people have strong opinions about marriage, as they do about divorce, child custody, zoning, and many other issues, but if everyone were allowed to petition for certiorari simply because of ideological objections or strongly held philosophical beliefs that an order should not have been entered, then there would be no limits to the petitions brought. Iowa law has never permitted such unwarranted interference in other peoples’ cases. Simply having an opinion does not suffice for standing.'
Posted on June 23, 2005 in Divorce | Permalink
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Main
| Federal Court Upholds "Defense of Marriage Act" »
June 23, 2005
Alons v. Iowa District Court - Lack of Standing to Challenge Dissolution of Civil Union
As widely expected, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected a third-party challenge to a district court decree dissolving a Vermont civil union. The case, Alons v. Iowa District Court was brought by several persons in various representative and individual capacities and one religious organization. Each claimed that they had standing to challenge the underlying decree, despite the fact that none of the challenging parties was a litigant in the underlying dissolution action.
After exhaustively analyzing the legal requirements for standing and each particular appellant's claim that he, she, or it somehow did have standing, the Court rejected every claim without reaching an discussion of the substantive merits raised by each appellant. Here's the money quote from the decision:
Finally, we agree with the amicus’s observation that '[m]any people have strong opinions about marriage, as they do about divorce, child custody, zoning, and many other issues, but if everyone were allowed to petition for certiorari simply because of ideological objections or strongly held philosophical beliefs that an order should not have been entered, then there would be no limits to the petitions brought. Iowa law has never permitted such unwarranted interference in other peoples’ cases. Simply having an opinion does not suffice for standing.'
Posted on June 23, 2005 in Divorce | Permalink
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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Alons v. Iowa District Court - Lack of Standing to Challenge Dissolution of Civil Union:
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