Supreme Court: State of Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. US ex rel. Stevens (Supplemental)
History and tradition play a uniquely central role in determining the scope of Article III’s “case or controversy” requirement. Not only does this Court look directly to the traditions of the Framers’ era in defining “cases of a Judiciary nature,” [FN2] but modern standing doctrine has been designed to address the Framers’ original concerns as applied to the new regulatory state. Given the initial heavy reliance of the Founding Generation on qui tam enforcement of federal law, and the acceptance of this mechanism by both this Court and the Executive Branch for over two centuries, it would be quite extraordinary for this Court to override Congress’ carefully considered judgment concerning how best to protect the proprietary interests of the United States.