The Virginia Business Litigation Blog
Virginia courts exist to resolve disputes between litigants. They’re there to apply the law to a set of facts established by the evidence and declare and enforce the parties’ respective legal rights. Courts aren’t required to offer advisory opinions on abstract legal questions when there isn’t an actual controversy between the parties. Under the mootness doctrine, if the issues under a court’s consideration cease to be “live,” or the parties before it “lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome,” the case becomes moot and the court will dismiss it. (See McCarthy Holdings LLC v. Burgher, 282 Va. 267, 275 (2011)). There are some exceptions to the rule, but as demonstrated by an opinion issued last month in Doe v. Fairfax County School Board, the mootness doctrine is applied stringently.
Anonymous petitioner “Jane Doe,” a high-school senior at the time, sued the school board for various alleged civil rights violations, claiming she was subjected to religious discrimination, sex discrimination, and viewpoint discrimination while attending school. She asked the court to award both declaratory and injunctive relief. Shortly after filing the lawsuit, however, she graduated.