118
Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
of action." 6 Framed this way, it is also clear that we have the power to decide the statutory question first. As our holding in Bell v. Hood, 327 U. S. 678, 681-685 (1946), demonstrates, just as a court always has jurisdiction to determine its own jurisdiction, United States v. Mine Workers, 330 U. S. 258, 290 (1947), a federal court also has jurisdiction to decide whether a plaintiff who alleges that she has been injured by a violation of federal law has stated a cause of action.7 Indeed, Bell held that we have jurisdiction to decide this question even when it is unclear whether the plaintiff's injuries can be redressed.8 Thus, Bell demonstrates that the Court
6 As Justice Cardozo stated, " ' "cause of action" may mean one thing for one purpose and something different for another.' " Davis v. Passman, 442 U. S. 228, 237 (1979) (quoting United States v. Memphis Cotton Oil Co., 288 U. S. 62, 67-68 (1933)). Under one meaning of the term, it is clear that citizens have a "cause of action" to sue under the statute. Under that meaning, "cause of action is a question of whether a particular plaintiff is a member of the class of litigants that may, as a matter of law, appropriately invoke the power of the court." Davis, 442 U. S., at 240, and n. 18 (emphasis deleted); see also id., at 239 ("The concept of a 'cause of action' is employed specifically to determine who may judicially enforce the statutory rights or obligations" (emphasis added)). Since EPCRA expressly gives citizens the right to sue, 42 U. S. C. § 11046(a)(1), there is no question that citizens are "member[s] of the class of litigants that may, as a matter of law, appropriately invoke the power of the court," Davis, 442 U. S., at 240, and n. 18.
7 "Jurisdiction . . . is not defeated . . . by the possibility that the averments might fail to state a cause of action on which petitioners could actually recover." Bell, 327 U. S., at 682.
8 In Bell, a precursor to Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U. S. 388 (1971), petitioners brought suit in federal court "to recover damages in excess of $3,000 from . . . agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation" for allegedly violating their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. 327 U. S., at 679. The question whether petitioners' injuries were redressable—"whether federal courts can grant money recovery for damages said to have been suffered as a result of federal officers violating the Fourth and Fifth Amendments"—was an open one, id., at 684 (which the Court did not decide until Bivens, 403 U. S., at 389). Nonetheless,
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