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Second Circuit Review: Clarifying Parens Patriae Standing
October 30, 2024
Litigation of counsel Martin Flumenbaum and firm Chairman Brad Karp’s latest Second Circuit Review column, “Clarifying Parens Patriae Standing,” appeared in the October 30 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss the Second Circuit’s recent decision in People of the State of New York v. Niagara-Wheatfield Central School District addressing when a state can establish parens patriae standing, which permits a state to bring certain actions in federal court on behalf of its citizens if it can show that there has been an injury to a substantial segment of the state’s population. The court held that New York had parens patriae standing to pursue a case against a school district, even though its claim was based on four distinct instances of inaction by the district in response to reports of misconduct. The decision shows that states are not required to identify a policy or practice of harmful conduct for parens patriae standing, but instead may rely on more isolated conduct if they can show the requisite direct and indirect effects of the harmful conduct.
Law clerk Alexi Polden assisted in the preparation of this column.
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