Priscilla Summers et al. v. Earth Island Institute et al.

Decided March 3, 2009. Antonin Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 07-463 · 555 U.S. 488 (2009) · Cited 2,335 times

Holding

Respondents lack standing to challenge the regulations still at issue absent a live dispute over a concrete application of those regu lations.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Sierra Club v. Morton · 405 U.S. 727 (1972)
• Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Environmental Services (TOC), Inc. · 528 U.S. 167 (2000)
• Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency · 549 U.S. 497 (2007)
• Warth v. Seldin · 422 U.S. 490 (1975)
• United States v. Richardson · 418 U.S. 166 (1974)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Alabama Ex Rel. Patterson · 357 U.S. 449 (1958)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Blum v. Yaretsky · 457 U.S. 991 (1982)
• FW/PBS, Inc. v. City of Dallas · 493 U.S. 215 (1990)
• Schlesinger v. Reservists Committee to Stop the War · 418 U.S. 208 (1974)
• Ohio Forestry Assn., Inc. v. Sierra Club · 523 U.S. 726 (1998)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Clapper v. Amnesty International USA · 568 U.S. 398 (2013)
• Department of Education v. Brown · 600 U.S. 551 (2023)
• Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins · 578 U.S. 330 (2016)
• TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez · 594 U.S. 413 (2021)
• FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine · 602 U.S. 367 (2024)
• Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk · 569 U.S. 66 (2013)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama · 575 U.S. 254 (2015)
• Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
• United States v. Texas · 599 U.S. 670 (2023)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Trump v. New York · 592 U.S. 125 (2020)
• Murthy v. Missouri · 603 U.S. 43 (2024)
• Moody v. NetChoice, LLC · 603 U.S. 707 (2024)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2009). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).