By Leisa Boley Hellwarth, a dairy farmer and attorney near Celina
This past December, the Nebraska Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that affirmed the trial court and enabled Randy Essink to raise broilers for Lincoln Premium Poultry (LPP) who provides processed chickens to Costco. The decision hinged on a jurisdictional issue: standing.
Standing (
locus standi) is the capacity of a party to bring suit in court. A state’s statutes will determine what constitutes standing in that particular state’s courts. These typically revolve around the requirement that plaintiffs have sustained or will sustain direct injury or harm and that this harm is redressable.