Diamond et al. v. Charles et al. (476 U.S. 54)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 30, 1986 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 476 U.S. 54 · 106 S. Ct. 1697
- Decided
- April 30, 1986
- Term
- October Term 1985
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Blackmun
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Petition denied or appeal dismissed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court. Appellant Eugene F. Diamond is a pediatrician engaged in private practice in Illinois. He seeks to defend before this Court the constitutionality of four sections of the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975, as amended. These sections impose criminal liability for the performance of an abortion under certain circumstances, and, under other circumstances, require that the woman be provided with particular abortion-related information. The State of Illinois has chosen to absent itself from this appeal, despite the fact that its statute is at stake. Because a private party whose own conduct is neither implicated nor threatened by a criminal statute has no judicially cognizable interest in the statute’s defense, we dismiss the appeal for want of jurisdiction. I On October 30, 1979, over gubernatorial veto, the Illinois Legislature amended the State’s 1975 Abortion Law to provide for increased regulation. 1979 Ill. Laws, Pub. Act 81-1078. That very day appellees, four physicians who provide obstetric, gynecologic, and abortion services in Illinois, filed a class action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. They alleged a deprivation of rights in violation of 42 U. S. C. § 1983 by the Illinois officials charged with enforcing the Abortion Law. Appellees sought declaratory and injunctive relief. The…
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