United States v. Richardson

Media Items
Oral Argument
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Opinion Announcement
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Advocates
Robert H. Bork (Argued the cause for the United States et al.)
Osmond K. Fraenkel (Argued the cause for the respondent)
Case Basics
Docket No.: 
72-885
Petitioner: 
United States
Respondent: 
Richardson
Decided By: 
Burger Court (1972-1975)
Opinion: 
418 U.S. 166 (1974)

Cite this page
The Oyez Project, United States v. Richardson , 418 U.S. 166 (1974)
available at: (http://oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1973/1973_72_885)
Facts of the Case: 

Richardson, a taxpayer interested in activities of the Central Intelligence Agency, sued the government to provide records detailing the CIA's expenditures.

Question: 

Does a federal taxpayer have standing to force the government to disclose expenditures of the CIA?

Conclusion: 

The Court held that Richardson did not have standing to sue. Using the two-pronged standing test of Flast v. Cohen (1968), Chief Justice Burger found that there was no "logical nexus between the status asserted [by Richardson as a taxpayer] and the claim sought to be adjudicated." It was clear to Burger that Richardson was not "a proper and appropriate party to invoke federal judicial power" on this issue.

Decisions

Decision: 5 votes for United States, 4 vote(s) against
Legal provision:

Sort by Ideology

Wrote the majority opinion
Burger
Wrote a dissent
Douglas
Wrote a dissent
Brennan
Wrote a dissent
Stewart
Voted with the majority
White
Voted with the minority, joined Stewart's dissent
Marshall
Voted with the majority
Blackmun
Wrote a regular concurrence
Powell
Voted with the majority
Rehnquist

Full Opinion by Justice Warren E. Burger