Earlier this week, the Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Spokeo II. As we previously reported, Spokeo II asked the Court to determine, in light of conflicting circuit court decisions, whether intangible harm to a statutorily-protected interest constitutes injury in fact even when a plaintiff cannot allege “real-world” harm or the imminent risk thereof. Does the denial indicate a reluctance to weigh in on thorny standing issues – or simply a preference to address them in the context of a different case?

We may know more soon, as other petitions on standing issues remain before the Court. Next up, Attias v. CareFirst – which asks the Court to review the DC Circuit’s holding that allegations of fear of future identity theft in the wake of a data breach satisfied Article III’s standing requirement. Briefing on that petition – which asks the Court to resolve a circuit split on standing in data breach class actions [see: 1, and 2] – has been distributed for the Court’s February 16 conference. Stay tuned for more developments.