Law Commons^™

Responding To Alternatives, Daniel T. Deacon

Michigan Law Review

This Article is the first to comprehensively analyze administrative agencies’ obligation to respond to alternatives to their chosen course of action. The obligation has been around at least since the Supreme Court’s decision in Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Ass’n of the United States, Inc. v. State Farm, and it has mattered in important cases. Most recently, the Supreme Court invoked the obligation as the primary ground on which to invalidate the Trump Administration’s rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The obligation to respond to alternatives is also frequently invoked in the lower courts and in the …

Against The Chenery Ii "Doctrine", Gary S. Lawson, Joseph Postell

Notre Dame Law Review

The Supreme Court’s 1947 decision in SEC v. Chenery Corp. ( Chenery II) is generally taken as blanket authorization for agencies to make law through either adju-dication or rulemaking if their organic statutes permit both modes. We think this is an overreading of the doctrine. The decision in Chenery II need not be read so broadly, and there are good reasons to read it more narrowly. The most important reason is that agency lawmaking through adjudication presents serious constitutional concerns involving due process of law and subdelegation of legislative power, at least if the agency action deprives people of life, …

Bring On The Chicken And Hot Oil: Reviving The Nondelegation Doctrine For Congressional Delegations To The President, Loren Jacobson

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The so-called “nondelegation doctrine” posits that Congress may not transfer its legislative power to another branch of government, and yet Congress delegates its authority routinely not only to the President, but to a whole host of other entities it has created and that are located in the executive branch, including executive branch agencies, independent agencies, commissions, and sometimes even private parties. Recognizing that “in our increasingly complex society, replete with ever changing and more technical problems, Congress simply cannot do its job absent an ability to delegate power under broad general directives,” the Supreme Court of the United States …

What’S The Deference? Interpreting The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines After Kisor, Liam Murphy

Vanderbilt Law Review

For more than three decades, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines have constrained the punishment doled out by federal judges, limiting discretion that was once nearly unlimited and bringing standardization to the penological decisionmaking process. For twice as long, the Supreme Court has constrained judges in a different way—by requiring that administrative agencies receive deference when they interpret the meaning of their own regulations. At the convergence of these two domains sits “commentary,” or interpretive notes the U.S. Sentencing Commission appends to the otherwise congressionally approved Guidelines. In Stinson v. United States, the Court made clear that commentary should be reviewed and …

Both Sides Of The Rock: Justice Gorsuch And The Seminole Rock Deference Doctrine, Kevin O. Leske

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Despite being early in his tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch has already made his presence known. His October 16, 2017 statement respecting the denial of certiorari in Scenic America, Inc. v. Department of Transportation garnered significant attention within the legal community. Joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Gorsuch questioned whether the Court’s bedrock 2-part test from Chevron, U.S.A. v. NRDC—whereby courts must defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statutory term—should apply in the case.

Justice Gorsuch’s criticism of the Chevron doctrine was not a surprise. In the …

The Role Of The Courts In Guarding Against Privatization Of Important Public Environmental Resources, Melissa K. Scanlan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Drinking water, beaches, a livable climate, clean air, forests, fisheries, and parks are all commons, shared by many users with diffuse and overlapping interests. These public natural resources are susceptible to depletion, overuse, erosion, and extinction; and they are under increasing pressures to become privatized. The Public Trust Doctrine provides a legal basis to guard against privatizing important public resources or commons. As such, it is a critical doctrine to counter the ever-increasing enclosure and privatization of the commons as well as ensure government trustees protect current and future generations. This Article considers separation of powers and statutory interpretation in …

Epistemic Peerhood In The Law, R. George Wright

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

We thus have, at this point, a preliminary sense of the importance of some possible choices in deciding whose voices and participation should be taken seriously, as that of our epistemic peers, in deciding legal questions. This Article addresses these preliminary understandings in several legal contexts. We can do so most profitably on the basis of a better, fuller, and more specific understanding of the crucial idea of epistemic peerhood. It is thus the idea of epistemic peerhood itself that this Article addresses immediately below.

Ignoring Administrative Decisions Through Settlement: A Holistic Approach, Vincent Escoto

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Analyzing Justice Cardozo’S Opinions On The Constitutionality Of The New Deal, Robert J. Pushaw Jr

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Making Treaty Implementation More Like Statutory Implementation, Jean Galbraith

Michigan Law Review

Both statutes and treaties are the “supreme law of the land,” and yet quite different practices have developed with respect to their implementation. For statutes, all three branches have embraced the development of administrative law, which allows the executive branch to translate broad statutory directives into enforceable obligations. But for treaties, there is a far more cumbersome process. Unless a treaty provision contains language that courts interpret to be directly enforceable, they will deem it to require implementing legislation from Congress. This Article explores and challenges the perplexing disparity between the administration of statutes and treaties. It shows that the …

Re-Thinking Executive Control Of And Accountability For The Agency, Benedict Sheehy, Don Feaver

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The organization of many Western governments has undergone dramatic structural and procedural changes over the past century. A large portion of public administration previously done by departments within a more centralized structure of government has been shifted to administrative units, often referred to as “agencies” that fall outside the constitutional core—an “agencified” model. This article investigates the historical contexts and legal developments associated with these changes and illuminates how “agencification” has altered the balance between executive control powers and executive accountability obligations. It examines how the organizational changes have been addressed in both the responsible government models of the United …

"Gatekeeping" Agency Reliance On Scientific And Technical Materials After Daubert: Ensuring Relevance And Reliability In The Administrative Process, Paul S. Miller, Bert W. Rein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Superstatute Theory And Administrative Common Law, Kathryn E. Kovacs

Indiana Law Journal

This Article employs William Eskridge and John Ferejohn’s theory of superstatutes as a tool to argue that administrative common law that contradicts or ignores the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is illegitimate. Eskridge and Ferejohn conceive of statutes that emerge from a lengthy, public debate and take on great normative weight over time as “superstatutes.” Superstatute theory highlights the deficiency in deliberation about the meaning of the APA. The APA bears all the hallmarks of a superstatute. Unlike the typical federal superstatute, however, the APA is not administered by a single agency. Thus, to respect and encourage the civic-republican style of …

Chevron Inside The Regulatory State: An Empirical Assessment, Christopher J. Walker

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

City Of Arlington V. Fcc: Jurisdictional Or Nonjurisdictional, Where To Draw The Line?, Whitney Ruijuan Hao

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Circuit Courts With Plenary Jurisdiction And Administrative Agencies With Exclusive Jurisdiction: Can They Peacefully Coexist In Missouri, Paul M. Spinden

Missouri Law Review

Part II examines this provision, including its impetus. Part III considers J.C.W.’s exposition of jurisdiction and focuses on its contention that the Missouri Constitution necessarily excludes statutory restrictions on the judiciary’s exercise of subject matter jurisdiction. Part IV closely examines McCracken’s application of J.C.W.’s analysis to the issue of exclusive administrative remedies and agency jurisdiction. Finally, Part V suggests alternative analyses that maintain exclusive remedies for workers’ compensation and other administrative agencies while preserving the circuit courts’ plenary subject matter jurisdiction.

The Iowa Unemployment Appeals Telephone Hearing Process, Bruce Graham

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Adapting Alternate Dispute Resolution For Use In Administrative Proceedings, Victor Lawrence

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Marco V. Doherty: Forcing An Agency To Play By Its Own Rules: Administrative Res Judicata, Matt Bove

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Agency Inaction, Abner J. Mikva

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Adjudication Under The Bankruptcy Amendments Of 1984: An Examination Of Congressional Response To The Northern Pipeline Decision, John M. Evans

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Another Moment In The Evolution Of Administrative Agency Power: The Opinion In Schultz V. Springfield Forest Products, Drew K. Mahady

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Agency Fact Finding, Walter J. Kendall Iii

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Administrative Law Judges, Judicial Independence, And Judicial Review: Qui Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?, W. Michael Gillette

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Paternalistic Discrimination: The Chevron Deference Misplaced In Chevron U.S.A., Inc. V. Echazabal, Tricia M. Patterson

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Bates V. Dow Agrosciences: Overcoming Federal Preemption And Giving The People A Voice , Kim Ly

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This note explores the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bates v. Dow Agrosciences LLC. Part II discusses the historical background and procedural history of the case. Part III lays out the facts of the Bates case. Part IV analyzes the majority opinion given by Justice Stevens and Justice Breyer's concurring opinion, and the opinion of Justice Thomas, concurring in part and dissenting in part. Part V considers Bates's judicial, legislative and administrative impact. Part VI concludes the discussion of the Bates decision.

No More Secrets: Under Ballard V. Commissioner, Special Trial Judge Reports Must Be Revealed , Katherine Kmiec Turner

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This case note evaluates Ballard v. Commissioner, its roots, and its impact on the Tax Court and administrative agencies. First, the history of the United States Tax Court is provided with a focus on the special trial judges and the structure of Tax Court Rule that was the central focus of Ballard. Second, there is a brief comparison of other positions, such as a magistrate, to the special trial judge. Third, this article simplifies the complicated, prior history of Ballard that includes three different petitioners, weeks of trial, and numerous courts proceedings and opinions. Fourth, the Ballard opinion is analyzed …

Science, Politics, And Administrative Legitimacy , Louis J. Virelli Iii

Missouri Law Review

Administrative agencies in the United States and other constitutional democracies around the world are continually faced with difficult questions about the legitimacy of their decisions.1 Each of these legitimacy questions in turn raises important second-order questions about how agencies should view their role within a constitutional democracy: How closely should agency decisions reflect popular political will? When and to what degree are deviations from popular opinion justified, and what measures should be taken to reduce the gap between regulators and the governed? What other sources of information are critical to agency decision making, and how should those inputs be treated …

Ordinary Administrative Law As Constitutional Common Law , Gillian E. Metzger

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Rhetorical Judgments: Using Holistic Assessment To Improve The Quality Of Administrative Decisions, Roger J. Klurfeld, Steven Placek

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Federal, state, and local governments issue hundreds of thousands of administrative decisions annually. Considering the number of encounters the public has with administrative appeal agencies, administrative decisions may be the largest category of legal writing and reading interaction the public has with the legal system. Many of these agencies have identified writing quality - however they define it - as a priority in their strategic plans, but the overwhelming number of hearings and decisions, coupled with regulatory guidelines for timeliness, may subordinate this goal to other management priorities. Improving the quality of administrative decisions at these agencies presents a practical …