Frothingham Vs. Mellon: Case Study

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The taxpayer, Harriet Frothingham, in Frothingham v. Mellon did not have standing in court because the burden was not on her personally. In order to have standing in Court, the party suing must be able to show injury and controversy. She had neither because her concern was the effects the statute would bring towards her property. The only way that Frothingham would have been eligible to sue was if the Congressional Act actually caused her property to be taken away to do an increase in taxation. Her case was not ripe. The decision from Frothingham v. Mellon was interpreted as a prohibition on taxpayer lawsuits and stood for forty-five years until Flast v. Cohen. The reason why the taxpayer in Flast v. Cohen did have standing is because he passed

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