Chatrie v. United States · ¶110

It has long been established that federal courts may not issue “advisory opinions” that do not bear on the rights of the litigants before them. Lewis v. Continental Bank Corp., 494 U. S. 472, 477 (1990). At the appellate stage, this principle means that courts should resolve only those questions on which a favorable ruling would provide a litigant redress from the judgment below. See Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, 588 U. S. 427, 432–433 (2019). The question on which the Court granted certiorari in this case cannot satisfy this requirement under any colorable view of the law. The Court should therefore decline to answer it.

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