The Federal Judicial Power (3 of 4)...Mootness

The Federal Judicial Power is provided for by Article 3 of the United States Constitution. In order for a case to come under the Federal Judiciary the plaintiff must have standing, the case or controversy must be ripe for review and the case cannot be moot, or stale. Further, the Federal Judiciary will not accept political questions.

MOOTNESS
If events after the filing of a lawsuit end the Plaintiff's injury then the case must be dismissed as moot because a Plaintiff must present a live controversy.

EX: Shirley is denied admission from dentistry school and sues to be let in. During the suit the school admits her until the case can be decided. By the time the case is to be decided, she is only a semester away from graduation. The case is moot because Shirley has acquired that for which she was suing. Continuing the case would have no effect on whether or not she graduated and thus the case is not worth the court's time.

EXCEPTIONS
If the wrong is capable of repetition but evades review because of its inherently limited time duration. This exception was used in Roe v. Wade, the case that made abortion constitutional. The exception was necessary for such cases because, due to a 9 month gestation period and a long court process, no case was capable of getting to the Supreme Court by the time the baby was born and thus the issue constantly evaded review. Thus, to allow the Court a chance to come to a decision for an issue that is regularly repeated, women becoming pregnant and wanting an abortion, Plaintiff was allowed to represent herself and other females.

Another exception comes from voluntary cessation, which means that the suit is something that the Defendant can stop doing in order to not be sued, but could easily start again after the suit was dropped. If Defendant is allowed to continue this cycle then he can continue to discriminate without repercussions.

Also, class action suits may continue if the issue is redressed so as long as someone involved in the suit has an issue that prevents the case from being rendered moot.
EX: If an class, a group of insurance customers, sue INSURECO for failing to fulfill obligations under form contracts, and INSURECO pays everyone but Bob, then the suit can continue as long as Bob continues to have a redressable issue against INSURECO.