Mark Leeming

'When You Got Nothing, You Got Nothing to Lose': Assignments of Choses of Action and Standing in the United States Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court in Sprint Communications Co LP v APCC Services Inc divided on the question whether an assignee for collection of federal debts satisfied Article III standing. Both majority and minority approached the constitutional question by reference to the English historical background, in light of the 19th century statutory reforms, which took a very different form in the United States than in England (and elsewhere in the Commonwealth). The decision is an excellent example of the ongoing process of working out the legal consequences of statutory choices made more than a century ago.