The standing doctrines are legal barriers and serve important purposes. Statutory standing ensures that when people sue under a statute, as one of the ACLU's claims purports to do, that the statute was actually intended to allow that sort of suit by that sort of plaintiff. Standing also ensures that the proper parties bring suit rather than people with a tenuous interest in the case. Finally, standing had an important Constitutional dimension, partly jurisdictional. Article III courts are only empowered to hear concrete cases or controversies. This ensures that courts actually resolve individual legal disputes, rather than infringing on the territory of the elected branched and getting into political disputes.
