Gillam

Gillam v. Barton

Good Law
200 F. App'x 656
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitAugust 29, 2006No. 05-35232California290 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

MEMORANDUM *

Plaintiff claims that a highway funding formula violates his rights under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause. But the environmental injuries he alleges lie outside the zone of interest of either provision. His complaint thus does not fulfill a necessary prudential requirement for standing. See Valley Forge Christian Coll. v. Ams. United for Separation of Church & State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 475 , 102 S.Ct. 752 , 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982) (“[PJlaintifPs complaint [must] fall within ‘the zone of interests to be protected or regulated by the statute or constitutional guarantee in question.’ ” (quoting Assoc. of Data Processing Serv. Orgs. v. Camp, 397 U.S. 150, 153 , 90 S.Ct. 827 , 25 L.Ed.2d 184 (1970))).

To the extent plaintiff is denied equal access to cost-effective road projects, that benefit is denied to all urban Alaska residents. Plaintiff has therefore asserted a generalized grievance that cannot serve as the basis for standing. See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 504 U.S. 555 , 560 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 2130 , 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (“[T]he injury must affect the plaintiff in a personal and individual way.”).

Given that plaintiff has no…

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