Document Type
Article
Abstract
The Article is presented in three Parts. Part I documents the enormous effect that Locke's political philosophy had on the Constitution's Framers and traces the idea of collective rights through Locke's Second Treatise, showing how Locke viewed government as a trustee and society as the settlor-beneficiary that forms and gives legitimacy to the government. Part II reviews the development of the current doctrine of standing and demonstrates how the current standing model creates a class of cases where government may, with impunity, violate the Constitution. Part III demonstrates the anomaly of the Supreme Court's current doctrine in a society founded on the ideas of John Locke. It then explores the constitutional provisions where collective rights have already been recognized by the courts, though not with respect to standing analysis. Finally, Part III proposes a revision of the current test for standing to ensure that vindication of society's collective rights is possible without creating universal standing and thus threatening the courts with a tidal wave of litigation brought by “officious intermeddlers.”
Recommended Citation
Donald L. Doernberg, "We the People"': John Locke, Collective Constitutional Rights, and Standing to Challenge Government Action, 73 Cal. L. Rev. 52 (1985), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/51/.