Cite as: 523 U. S. 420 (1998)
Breyer, J., dissenting
Third, the Government argues that Lorelyn cannot succeed because a federal court lacks the power to grant her the relief she seeks, namely, a grant of citizenship. Brief for Respondent 43-50. As I shall later explain in more detail, however, this argument is beside the point, for, once the two unconstitutional clauses are excised from the statute, that statute operates automatically to confer citizenship upon Lorelyn "at birth." 8 U. S. C. § 1401; see Part V, infra.
Justice O'Connor, joined by Justice Kennedy, says that Lorelyn cannot assert her father's rights because "she has not demonstrated a substantial hindrance to her father's ability to assert his own rights." Ante, at 447. But the obstacles that the Government placed in her father's path substantially hindered his efforts to do so in practice. See supra, at 473-474. Several of the cases mentioned in Justice O'Connor's opinion involved the denial of standing, but none of those cases involved any "hindrance," and Justice O'Connor does not claim that they do. See FW/PBS, Inc. v. Dallas, 493 U. S. 215, 234 (1990) (husband lacks standing to assert wife's moot claim); Bender v. Williamsport Area School Dist., 475 U. S. 534, 544-545 (1986) (school board member lacks standing to defend on board's behalf a claim that all other board members voted not to defend); Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood, 441 U. S. 91, 112, n. 25 (1979) (nonresidents lack standing to challenge local real estate practices as discriminatory); Heald v. District of Columbia, 259 U. S. 114, 123 (1922) (District resident lacks standing to claim local tax unconstitutional as applied to bonds held by nonresidents outside District). I have previously pointed to cases in which the Court has found third-party standing where the "hindrance" was of the same kind and approximate degree as that present here. Supra, at 474. There are, of course, other cases finding standing that arguably involve even greater hindrance. See, e. g., Hodel v. Irving, 481 U. S. 704, 711-712 (1987); Carey v. Population Services Int'l, 431 U. S. 678, 684, n. 4 (1977); Singleton v.
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