Do States Enjoy a Special Solicitude?

Over the last two decades, states have played an important and increasing role in federal policymaking through state-led litigation. Unsurprisingly, a state’s Article III standing is often a hotly contested question—with increasing attention from the Supreme Court and what some might argue are scattershot results. Are states subject to traditional standing analysis, as the Court said in Biden v. Nebraska (2023)? Do they get “special solicitude,” as the Court observed in Massachusetts v. EPA (2007)? Or are there concrete injuries that the Court simply will not remedy, as in United States v. Texas (2023)? Is there a common thread to the Court’s standing analysis and—more importantly—what does the original public meaning of Article III have to say about state-led litigation? Featuring: Mr. Kyle George, Principal, Kyle George Law Group; Former First Assistant Attorney General, State of Nevada Mr. Eric Hamilton, Solicitor General, Nebraska Department of Justice Prof. Christopher J. Walker, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School Moderator: Hon. Jennifer Walker Elrod, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit Overflow: Cabinet & Senate Rooms