standing

(stăn'dĭng)
n.

1. 1. Status with respect to rank, reputation, or position in society or a profession.
   2. High reputation; esteem: a person of standing in the community.
2. Continuance in time; duration: a friendship of long standing.
3. Law. The right or capacity to initiate a suit.
4. The act of one that stands.
5. A place where a person or thing stands.
6. standings Sports. A listing of individual competitors or of teams in a league according to their record of performance.

adj.

1. 1. Remaining upright; erect.
   2. Not cut down: standing timber.
2. Performed or done from a standing position: a standing jump; a standing ovation.
3. Permanent and unchanging; fixed.
4. Remaining in force or use indefinitely: a standing invitation.
5. Not movable; stationary.
6. Not flowing or circulating; stagnant.

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For more information on standing, visit Britannica.com.

noun

1. Positioning of one individual vis-à-vis others: footing, place, position, rank¹, situation, station, status. See place.
2. The level of credit or respect at which one is regarded by others: face, prestige, status. See respect/contempt/standing.

adj

Definition: permanent
Antonyms: fleeting, impermanent, temporary

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

The legally protectible stake or interest that an individual has in a dispute that entitles him to bring the controversy before the court to obtain judicial relief.

Standing, sometimes referred to as standing to sue, is the name of the federal law doctrine that focuses on whether a prospective plaintiff can show that some personal legal interest has been invaded by the defendant. It is not enough that a person is merely interested as a member of the general public in the resolution of the dispute. The person must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy.

The standing doctrine is derived from the U.S. Constitution's Article III provision that federal courts have the power to hear "cases" arising under federal law and "controversies" involving certain types of parties. In the most fundamental application of the philosophy of judicial restraint, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this language to forbid the rendering of advisory opinions.

Once a federal court determines that a real case or controversy exists, it must then ascertain whether the parties to the litigation have standing. The Supreme Court has developed an elaborate body of principles defining the nature and scope of standing. Basically, a plaintiff must have suffered some direct or substantial injury or be likely to suffer such an injury if a particular wrong is not redressed. A defendant must be the party responsible for perpetrating the alleged legal wrong.

Most standing issues arise over the enforcement of an allegedly unconstitutional statute, ordinance, or policy. One may challenge a law or policy on constitutional grounds if he can show that enforcement of the law or implementation of the policy infringes on an individual constitutional right, such as freedom of speech. For example, in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S. Ct. 733, 21 L. Ed. 2d 731 (1969), high school officials in Des Moines, Iowa, had suspended students for wearing black armbands to school to protest U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. There was no question that the parents of the students had standing to challenge the restrictions on the wearing of armbands. Mere ideological opposition to a particular government policy, such as the Vietnam War, however, is not sufficient grounds to challenge that policy in court.

A significant economic injury or burden is sufficient to provide standing to sue, but in most situations a taxpayer does not have standing to challenge policies or programs that she is forced to support. In Frothingham v. Mellon, 288 F. 252 (C.A.D.C. 1923), the Supreme Court denied a federal taxpayer the right to challenge a federal program that she claimed violated the Tenth Amendment, which reserves certain powers to the states. The Court said that a party must show some "direct injury as the result of the statute's enforcement, and not merely that he suffers in some indefinite way common with people generally."

Although the Supreme Court made a narrow exception to this prohibition on taxpayer suits in Flast v. Cohen, 392 U.S. 83, 88 S. Ct. 1942, 20 L. Ed. 2d 947 (1968), granting standing to a taxpayer to challenge federal spending that would benefit parochial schools, the Court has never gone beyond that. In fact, there is some doubt as to the vitality of the Flast decision. In 1974 the Court denied standing to a taxpayer who sought to challenge Congress's exempting the Central Intelligence Agency from the constitutional requirement under Article I, Section 9, Clause 7, that government expenditures be publicly reported (United States v. Richardson, 418 U.S. 166, 94 S. Ct. 2940, 41 L. Ed. 2d 678). Since Richardson the Court has continued to maintain the traditional barrier against taxpayer lawsuits.

The issue of standing has played a crucial role in class action lawsuits, especially those filed by environmental groups. In Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727, 92 S. Ct. 1361, 31 L. Ed. 2d 636 (1972), the Court denied standing to an environmental group that was challenging a decision by the secretary of the interior. The Court ruled that the Sierra Club had not demonstrated that its members would be substantially adversely affected by the secretary's decision. Later environmental class actions have overcome the standing hurdle by including specific harms that group members would suffer, thus avoiding the Court's rule against generalized concerns.

The issue of standing is more than a technical aspect of the judicial process. A grant or denial of standing determines who may challenge government policies and what types of policies may be challenged. Those who believe that the federal courts should not increase their power generally believe standing should be used to limit access to the courts by persons or groups seeking to change public policy. They believe the legislative branch should deal with these types of issues. Opponents of a strict standing test complain that plaintiffs never get a chance to prove their case in court. They believe that justice should not be denied by the application of judicially created doctrines such as standing.

See: judicial review.

IN BRIEF: n. - The act of assuming or maintaining an upright position; Social or financial or professional status or reputation.

If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders. — Hal Abelson

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For a list of words related to standings, see:

• General Sports Terminology
• Baseball - standings: the records of the teams organized in lists by their divisions and leagues, proceeding from the team with the best record at the top to the team with the worst record at the bottom

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See words rhyming with "standing."

Dansk (Danish)
n. - rang, stilling, anseelse, position, status, varighed
adj. - stillestående, stående, stadig, blivende, fast

idioms:

• be in good standing    have god placering
• leave a person standing    være meget bedre end en person
• of many years' standing    mange år gammel
• standing army    stående hær
• standing committee    stående udvalg
• standing joke    stående vittighed
• standing order    fast ordre, stående ordre
• standing ovation    stående bifald
• standing room    ståplads

Nederlands (Dutch)
status, positie, staand, stilstaand, langdurig iemand ver achter je laten van oudsher

Français (French)
n. - réputation, rang, durée
adj. - actif, permanent, (Sport) sans élan

idioms:

• in good standing    en bonne position
• leave a person standing    laisser une personne debout
• of many years' standing    qui dure depuis de nombreuses années
• standing army    armée permanente
• standing committee    comité permanent
• standing joke    plaisanterie habituelle
• standing order    (Fin) virement automatique
• standing ovation    ovation debout
• standing room    places debout

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ansehen, Dauer
adj. - stehend, fest, üblich

idioms:

• in good standing    gut mit jmdm. stehen
• leave a person standing    jmdn. weit hinter sich lassen
• of many years' standing    langjährig
• standing army    stehendes Heer
• standing committee    ständiger Ausschuß
• standing joke    altbewährter Witz
• standing order    Dauerauftrag
• standing ovation    stürmischer Beifall
• standing room    Stehplätze

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - προϋπηρεσία, θέση, υπόσταση, υπόληψη, φήμη (κν. όνομα), διάρκεια, (οικον.) οικονομική κατάσταση, "επιφάνεια"
adj. - όρθιος, για όρθιους, ισχύων, μόνιμος, σταθερός, στάσιμος, διαθέσιμος

idioms:

• be in good standing    έχω τη συμπάθεια (κάποιου), είμαι ταμειακά ενήμερος
• leave a person standing    αφήνω κάποιον να περιμένει
• of many years' standing    από παλιά, με μακρά προϋπηρεσία, με μακρά ιστορία
• standing army    (στρατ.) μόνιμος στρατός
• standing committee    (διακομματική) νομοπαρασκευαστική επιτροπή
• standing joke    μόνιμο αστείο (που μοιραζόμαστε με άλλους)
• standing order    πάγια εντολή/παραγγελία
• standing ovation    ενθουσιώδεις επευφημίες
• standing room    χώρος ή αίθουσα ορθίων

Italiano (Italian)
prestigio, immobile, in piedi

idioms:

• be in good standing    essere solido
• leave a person standing    lasciare qualcuno con un palmo di naso
• of many years' standing    rinomato da anni
• standing army    esercito regolare
• standing committee    commissione permanente
• standing joke    oggetto di scherno
• standing order    istruzioni correnti
• standing ovation    ovazione entusiastica
• standing room    posti in piedi

Português (Portuguese)
n. - posição (f)

idioms:

• be in good standing    ter boas relações com
• leave a person standing    deixar alguém esperando
• of many years' standing    validade de um contrato
• standing army    exército permanente
• standing committee    pessoas escolhidas pelo Parlamento ou Congresso para considerar novas leis
• standing joke    algo que ocorre freqüentemente e virou piada
• standing order    débito em conta
• standing ovation    aplauso ininterrupto
• standing room    lugar em pé

Русский (Russian)
положение, ранг, репутация, прочное положение, продолжительность, стаж, стоящий, постоянный, стационарный, недействующий, стоячий

idioms:

• be in good standing    быть на хорошем счету
• leave a person standing    оставить кого-л. далеко позади
• of many years' standing    давний
• standing army    регулярная армия
• standing committee    постоянный комитет
• standing joke    дежурная шутка
• standing order    устав, регламент, постоянный приказ-инструкция
• standing ovation    "зал встает и аплодирует"
• standing room    стоячее место

Español (Spanish)
n. - status, posición social
adj. - parado, de pie, vertical, clásico, fijo, permanente, estancado

idioms:

• in good standing    gozar de buen crédito, estar en favor o en buenos términos
• leave a person standing    dejar atrás a alguien
• of many years' standing    de larga duración
• standing army    ejército permanente
• standing committee    comisión permanente
• standing joke    objeto de ridículo permanente
• standing order    reglamento vigente, pedido regular
• standing ovation    ovación calurosa
• standing room    sitio donde la gente está de pie, pasillo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ställning, status, anseende, varaktighet, ålder
adj. - stående, stillastående, permanent, fast, ständigt återkommande, vrakatighet, ålder

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
站立, 身份, 站立处, 地位, 立着的, 经常的, 不动的

idioms:

• be in good standing    资格完备的, 够格的
• leave a person standing    放鸽子, 比某人好得多
• of many years' standing    很久...
• standing army    常备军, 现役部队
• standing committee    常务委员会
• standing joke    长期的笑话
• standing order    作战命令
• standing ovation    起立鼓掌
• standing room    站立的空间, 只容站立的地方

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 站立, 身份, 站立處, 地位
adj. - 立著的, 經常的, 不動的

idioms:

• be in good standing    資格完備的, 夠格的
• leave a person standing    放鴿子, 比某人好得多
• of many years' standing    很久...
• standing army    常備軍, 現役部隊
• standing committee    常務委員會
• standing joke    長期的笑話
• standing order    作戰命令
• standing ovation    起立鼓掌
• standing room    站立的空間, 只容站立的地方

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 지위, 존속, 서 있기
adj. - 서 있는, 고정된, 습관적인

idioms:

• be in good standing    훌륭한 신분이다

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 立っている, 常設の, 永続的な, 動かない, 止まった, 直立の
n. - 地位, 身分, 立場, 継続, 起立, 経歴

idioms:

• standing army    常備軍
• standing committee    常任委員会
• standing joke    お決まりのジョーク
• standing order    服務規定, 継続注文, 自動引き落とし, 議事規則, 永続規定
• standing ovation    立って行なう拍手
• standing room    立ち見席

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شأن, مقام (صفه) قائم, منتصب, دائم يذهله, يغلبه بمسافه كبيرة قديم العهد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מעמד, עמדה, משך-זמן‬
adj. - ‮עומד, זקוף, קבוע, מתמיד‬

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