# Sierra Club v. Morton

> Supreme Court of the United States · April 19, 1972 · 405 U.S. 727

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9424820

## Case

- **Full name:** SIERRA CLUB v. MORTON, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Et Al.
- **Court:** Supreme Court of the United States
- **Decided:** April 19, 1972
- **Citations:** 405 U.S. 727; 2 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20192; 3 ERC (BNA) 2039; 92 S. Ct. 1361; 31 L. Ed. 2d 636; 1972 U.S. LEXIS 118
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Brennan
- **Judges:** Blackmun, Stewart, Burger, White, Marshall, Douglas, Brennan, Blachmun, Powell, Rehnquist
- **Cited by:** 2,954 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9424820

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- recognizing a trend in environmental cases "discarding the notion that an injury that is widely shared is ipso facto not an injury sufficient to provide the basis for judicial review....Aesthetic and environmental well-being, like economic well-being, are important ingredients…
- recognizing a trend "discarding the notion that an injury that is widely shared is ipso facto not an injury sufficient to provide the basis for judicial review. . . . Aesthetic and environmental well-being, like economic well-being, are important ingredients of the quality of …
- holding that “a mere ‘interest in a problem,’ no matter how longstanding the interest and no matter how qualified the organization is in evaluating the problem, is not sufficient by itself to render the organization ‘adversely affected’ or ‘aggrieved’ within the meaning of the…
- holding that environmental group lacked standing because “[n]owhere in the pleadings or affidavits did the [group] state that its members use [the affected area] for any purpose, much less that they use it in any way that would be significantly affected by the proposed actions…
- holding that an organization lacked standing where it failed to assert in its pleadings or affidavits that its members used the proposed project area “for any purpose, much less that they use it in any way that would be significantly affected by the proposed actions of the res…

## Opinion text

Mr. Justice Brennan,
dissenting.
I agree that the Sierra Club has standing for the reasons stated by my Brother Blackmun in Alternative No. 2 of his dissent. I therefore would reach the merits. Since the Court does not do so, however, I simply note agreement with my Brother Blackmun that the merits are substantial.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9424820. Public record. Not legal advice.