| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | DeFunis is denied admission to University of Washington Law School, and sues. |
| Posture: | Trial court grants injunctive relief, and he starts to attend school, but U WA appeals, and the court reverses. Appeal. Cert granted, and this stays the WA SC judgment. Both sides contended that the issue was not moot. |
| Issue: | The years have gone by, and DeFunis is now in his last quarter of law school: is this now, finally, moot? |
| Holding: | Yes: no decision we make will change whether he finishes law school. |
| Rule: | If the outcome is immaterial, there's no "case or controversy" to hear. |
| Reasoning: | This isn't an issue capable of repetition, since DeFunis will never have to go to law school again. The court's determination of the legal issues here will neither compel any result nor serve to prevent it. |
| Dicta: | Brennan, dissenting: We got 26 amicus briefs, so it's pretty obvious there's great public interest in the matter. If we don't decide it now, it just means we're going to have to deal with it later. |