116
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
decide whether petitioner had suffered a sufficient injury under Article III.
Similarly, in Block v. Community Nutrition Institute, 467 U. S. 340 (1984), the Court was faced with a choice between a statutory jurisdictional issue and a question of Article III standing. The Court of Appeals had held that the respondents had standing under both the statute and the Constitution. 698 F. 2d 1239, 1244-1252 (CADC 1983). On writ of certiorari to this Court, the United States, as petitioner, argued both issues: that the respondents did not come within the "zone of interests" of the statute, and that they did not have standing under Article III of the Constitution.5 A
unanimous Court bypassed the constitutional standing question in order to decide the statutory question. It therefore construed the statute, and concluded that respondents could not bring suit under the statute. The only mention of the constitutional question came in a footnote at the end of the opinion: "Since congressional preclusion of judicial review is in effect jurisdictional, we need not address the standing issue decided by the Court of Appeals in this case." Block, 467 U. S., at 353, n. 4 (citing National Railroad Passenger Corp., 414 U. S., at 456, 465, and n. 13).
Finally, in Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U. S. 91 (1979), we were also faced with a choice between a statutory and constitutional jurisdictional question. Id., at 93 ("This case presents both statutory and constitutional questions concerning standing to sue under Title VIII"). The statutory question was whether respondents had standing to sue under § 812 of the Fair Housing Act. The Court,
5 Brief for Petitioners in Block v. Community Nutrition Institute, O. T. 1983, No. 83-458, pp. 32-50 (arguing that respondents failed to meet the injury-in-fact and redressability requirements of Article III); see also Brief for Respondents in Block v. Community Nutrition Institute, O. T. 1983, No. 83-458, pp. 17-28; Reply Brief for Petitioners in Block v. Community Nutrition Institute, O. T. 1983, No. 83-458, pp. 15-17.
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