662
Stevens, J., concurring
leases is invalid," 490 U. S., at 611,3 the defendants sought to invoke the jurisdiction of this Court. In holding that the defendants had standing to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts, we noted that the state proceedings had "resulted in a final judgment altering tangible legal rights," id., at 619, and we adopted the following rationale:
"When a state court has issued a judgment in a case where plaintiffs in the original action had no standing to sue under the principles governing the federal courts, we may exercise our jurisdiction on certiorari if the judgment of the state court causes direct, specific, and concrete injury to the parties who petition for our review, where the requisites of a case or controversy are also met." Id., at 623-624.
The rationale supporting our jurisdictional holding in ASARCO, however, does not extend to this quite different case. Unlike ASARCO, in which the state-court proceedings ended in a declaratory judgment invalidating a state law, no "final judgment altering tangible legal rights" has been entered in the instant case. Id., at 619. Rather, the California Supreme Court merely held that respondent's complaint was sufficient to survive Nike's demurrer and to allow the case to go forward. To apply ASARCO to this case would effect a drastic expansion of ASARCO's reasoning, extending it to cover an interlocutory ruling that merely allows a trial to proceed.4 Because I do not believe such a
3 The Arizona Supreme Court also remanded the case for the trial court to determine what further relief might be appropriate. See id., at 611. Thus, while leaving open the question of remedy on remand, the state-court judgment in ASARCO finally decided the federal issue. See id., at 612 (holding that the federal issues had been adjudicated by the state court and that the remaining issues would not give rise to any further federal question).
4 Justice Breyer would extend ASARCO—which provides an exception to our normal standing requirement—to encompass not merely a defendant's challenge to an adverse state-court judgment but also a
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