Zone of Interests

The "zone of interests" doctrine in standing law demands that a plaintiff seeking judicial review of federal agency action have suffered an injury that is within the "zone of interests" of the statute allegedly violated. The Supreme Court's cases implement two contradictory rules regarding how to apply this test: one demands that a plaintiff show that Congress intended the statute at issue to benefit persons such as the plaintiff; the other requires only that a plaintiff "have" an interest that a statute seeks to serve, which is effectively equivalent to eliminating the zone of interests test entirely and requiring only that a plaintiff have suffered an injury in fact. This article calls upon the Court to apply a uniform test and recommends adoption of the open apporach that would permit all injured parties to seek judicial review of agency action.


Zone of Interests
92 Geo. L.J. 317 (2004)

Abstract
	The "zone of interests" doctrine in standing law demands that a plaintiff seeking judicial review of federal agency action have suffered an injury that is within the "zone of interests" of the statute allegedly violated. The Supreme Court's cases implement two contradictory rules regarding how to apply this test: one demands that a plaintiff show that Congress intended the statute at issue to benefit persons such as the plaintiff; the other requires only that a plaintiff "have" an interest that a statute seeks to serve, which is effectively equivalent to eliminating the zone of interests test entirely and requiring only that a plaintiff have suffered an injury in fact. This article calls upon the Court to apply a uniform test and recommends adoption of the open apporach that would permit all injured parties to seek judicial review of agency action.