A trend by national parks to require no-cash payments of entrance fees can continue unimpeded, with the dismissal Wednesday of a lawsuit challenging the practice.
In a ruling that leaves debate over the merits of the no-cash policy for another day, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled that would-be park visitor Toby Stover lacked the necessary standing to sue the National Park Service.
“To the extent that Stover alleges that she suffers ongoing injury from her choice to stay away from Hyde Park or any other similar NPS site while the alleged NPS policy she challenges is in place, that choice is an injury of her own making,” Kelly wrote.
Standing is a threshold litigation hurdle that requires aggrieved parties to show they have “suffered an injury in fact” that is both “concrete and particularized” and either “actual or imminent.”
