The courts
ripeness
The requirement that a dispute be concrete enough to decide now. Courts refuse cases built on harms that may never happen.
In full
Ripeness is mootness's mirror: one asks whether a case has arrived yet, the other whether it has passed. A challenge to a regulation that has not been enforced and may never be applied to the plaintiff is often unripe. Courts weigh how fit the issue is for decision and what hardship comes from making the parties wait.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.