Ex Parte Alabama Educational Television Commission (in Re Allan Pizzato and Pauline Howland v. Alabama Educational…

Summary

The Alabama Supreme Court granted the petition for mandamus, directing the Jefferson Circuit Court to dismiss Allan Pizzato and Pauline Howland’s Open Meetings Act claims because the plaintiffs lacked standing under the Lujan test. The Court held that the redressability prong was not satisfied since the only relief sought was civil penalties, which do not remedy the alleged injury. Three dissenting and concurring justices argued that the federal standing test should not control Alabama law and that the plaintiffs should be allowed to proceed.