Debra L Lowman (St. John’s) has posted A Call for Judicial Restraint: Federal Taxpayer Grievances Challenging Executive Action, 30 Seattle U. L. Rev. ___ (2007), on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:

This article offers a critique of the interesting case of Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Chao, 433 F.3d 989 (7th Cir. 2006), which is on appeal before the United States Supreme Court. In that case, the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the plaintiffs qua taxpayers had standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the constitutionality of the Executive Branch’s dedication of federal funds to President Bush’s Faith Based and Community Initiatives program. The majority opinion, written by Judge Posner, spawned a vigorous dissenting opinion by Judge Ripple, who on denial of defendants’ petition for rehearing, was joined by three more judges. Two more judges, Chief Judge Flaum and Judge Easterbrook, concurred in the denial of rehearing because they viewed the matter as one for the resolution by the Supreme Court. It is the author’s position that the Freedom court’s notion of taxpayer standing is not only irreconcilable with Supreme Court taxpayer standing case law, but is also untenable as a matter of general standing doctrine. The author calls upon the federal Judiciary to stay its hand in taxpayer grievances concerning purely executive action.