Cite as: 603 U. S. ____ (2024)
5
THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment
challenges creates practical concerns as well. Facial challenges’ dubious historical roots further confirm that the
doctrine should have no place in our jurisprudence.
A
1
Article III empowers federal courts to exercise “judicial
Power” only over “Cases” and “Controversies.” This Court
has long recognized that those terms impose substantive
constraints on the authority of federal courts. See Muskrat
v. United States, 219 U. S. 346, 356–358 (1911); see also
Steel Co. v. Citizens for Better Environment, 523 U. S. 83,
102 (1998). One corollary of the case-or-controversy requirement is that while federal courts can judge the constitutionality of statutes, they may do so only to the extent
necessary to resolve the case at hand. “It is emphatically
the province and duty of the judicial department to say
what the law is,” but only because “[t]hose who apply the
rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule.” Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177
(1803); see Liverpool, New York & Philadelphia S. S. Co. v.
Commissioners of Emigration, 113 U. S. 33, 39 (1885)
(“[The Court] has no jurisdiction to pronounce any statute
. . . irreconcilable with the Constitution, except as it is
called upon to adjudge the legal rights of litigants in actual
controversies”). Accordingly, “[e]xcept when necessary” to
resolve a case or controversy, “courts have no charter to review and revise legislative and executive action.” Summers
v. Earth Island Institute, 555 U. S. 488, 492 (2009); see
United States v. Raines, 362 U. S. 17, 20–21 (1960).
These limitations on the power of judicial review play an
essential role in preserving our constitutional structure.
Our Constitution sets forth a “tripartite allocation of
power,” separating different types of powers across three coequal branches. DaimlerChrysler Corp. v. Cuno, 547 U. S.
332, 341 (2006) (internal quotation marks omitted). “[E]ach