Mootness
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States
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2005
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© The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information)
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Mootness is one of several problems created by
Article III's limitation of the jurisdiction of federal courts to “Cases” and “Controversies.” The mootness problem arises when the issue that is being litigated has become resolved in one way or another, thus leaving the plaintiff with no current complaint. For example, in a leading mootness case,
DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974), the petitioner complained that admissions procedures at the University of Washington Law School denied him (a white male)
equal protection. He was admitted to the school pending litigation, and his case was docketed for argument shortly before he was about to graduate. A 5‐to‐4 majority dismissed his action, holding that it would have become moot by the time the merits were reached.
An important exception to the mootness exclusion is for cases “capable of repetition, yet evading review” (
Southern Pacific Terminal Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 1911, p. 515). The exception has been applied in cases involving the constitutionality of government restrictions on
abortion. In such actions, a pregnant woman contesting state‐imposed restrictions on her access to abortion would certainly carry her pregnancy to term before her challenge could be resolved (see
Roe v. Wade, 1973).
See also
Cases and Controversies;
Justiciability.
William M. Wiecek
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Lekain
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Lekain , 1728-78, French actor, whose original names was Henri Louis Cain. In...accurate costuming. Because of the low status accorded to actors in his time, Lekain served three prison terms, once because he declined to appear on stage with...
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Lekain, Henri-Louis
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
Lekain, Henri-Louis [ Henri-Louis Caï...nieces. It was immediately successful and Lekain was accepted into the company of the Com...for Voltaire's Orphelin de la Chine . Lekain also insisted on more mobility on stage...
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Voltaire
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
...long life, befriending many actors and actresses, including Lekain and Adrienne Lecouvreur ; himself a keen actor, he built several...Gaussin in the leading roles and again later in the century, when Lekain took the role of Orosmane. When put on in London, at Drury...
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Costume
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre
...plume. Twenty years earlier Voltaire , helped by the actor Lekain , had begun a campaign for correct costuming, at least in classical plays. In his Orphelin de la Chine (1755) Lekain as the hero wore an embroidered robe in place of the usual...
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acting
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...old declamatory method did not really die out until the early 20th cent., and such great 18th- and 19th-century actors as Lekain, Sarah Siddons , Edmund Kean , and Junius Brutus Booth would probably seem overly histrionic to modern audiences. Part of...
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