Administrative Law Commons^™

The Tax Man's Ethics: Four Of The Hardest Ethical Questions For An Irs Lawyer, Michelle M. Kwon

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article explores the ethical framework governing IRS Office of Chief Counsel lawyers, comparing the traditional approach of client advocacy with the public interest approach. It argues that the Office has adopted self-imposed duties to the public, beyond the Model Rules, to ensure impartial and fair tax law application. These duties align with the IRS's mission and do not conflict with its primary role of representing the agency. The analysis examines four hypothetical scenarios to assess the effectiveness of these duties and their implications for legal ethics.

Prison Rape Elimination Act (Prea): Considerations For Policy Review, Brenda V. Smith, A.T. Wall, Susan Mccampbell, Madie Lamarre, Gary Dennis, Ania Drobrzanska, Bob Dumond, Jeff Shorba, Mara Dodson, Andie Moss, Donna Deutsch, Rachel Bosley, Morris Thigpen, Dee Halley

Presentations

A policy review guide designed to assist in drafting PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) policies for review by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is provided. Sections of this document are: purpose; questions to consider -- policy organization, definitions, zero tolerance, staff/offender duty to report, prevention, and investigations (e.g., general, selection and training of investigators, protocols, and aftermath); and list of resources.

Union Salts As Administrative Private Attorneys General, Michael C. Duff

All Faculty Scholarship

The legitimacy of union salting campaigns has been debated frequently and bitterly over the last several years. Salts, the agents of these campaigns, are professional union organizers who apply for, and sometimes obtain – often surreptitiously – employment with non-union employers in furtherance of union objectives. Although recent decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), under the influence of the W. Bush administration, have erected administrative and legal roadblocks to the conduct of salting campaigns, it is likely that the “Obama Board” will revisit the issues surrounding them. This article argues that salts have served a legitimate function by …

Cooperation, Commandeering, Or Crowding Out?: Federal Intervention And State Choices In Health Care Policy, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

This Article's analysis proceeds in three parts. Part II of this article outlines the policy considerations in determining the proper federal and state balance in health care policy. There are strong arguments for state primacy in health care policy, but also substantial justifications for federal intervention. Part III discusses the concept of "cooperative federalism," under which the federal government encourages state governments to implement policies in accord with federal priorities, and identifies constitutional limitations on the federal government's ability to direct or even influence state policy choices. Even if the constitutional challenges to the individual mandate fails, federalism-based challenges to …

Heat Expands All Things: The Proliferation Of Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under The Obama Administration, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Although Congress did not put climate change legislation on President Obama’s desk, the Obama Administration still moved ahead with various regulatory measures to control GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions. Using authority under the Clean Air Act and other existing environmental statutes, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies have been expanding existing regulatory programs to cover GHG emissions and address climate change concerns. Several measures are already in place and others are in the regulatory pipeline, although citizen suit litigation could produce still more.

The extension of federal regulatory authority to control GHG emissions under existing statutory frameworks is a …

Mayo And The Future Of Tax Regulations, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Of the heady early days of the French Revolution, Wordsworth wrote: “Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive. But to be young was very heaven.” Those of us interested in the intersection of tax law and administrative law may be excused if we feel similar exhilaration about the time in which we live.

In terms of the intersection, this is the most exciting moment in the tax history of the United States. Recent cases have tested – and cases still in progress continue to test –- the validity of several Treasury regulations:

1. On January 11 the Supreme …

Appeal No. 0831: City Of Broadview Heights V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2010-43 (GonzOil Inc., Lazlo Well #1D)

Appeal No. 0830: City Of Broadview Heights V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management And Gonzoil, Inc., Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2010-34 (GonzOil Inc., Kral Well #1D)

Summary Of Western Surety Co. V. Adco Credit Inc., 127 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 8, Meredith Still

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered an appeal from a district court order granting a petition for judicial review in a Department of Motor Vehicles bond matter.

Cityland – Vol. 8, No. 2, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2011

This issue of CityLand covers major land use and development initiatives in New York City as of March 15, 2011. The City Council held a contentious oversight hearing on Wal-Mart’s potential entry into the NYC market, raising concerns about its impact on small businesses. The City Planning Commission approved several affordable housing projects, including developments in East Harlem, the East Village, and the Bronx’s Melrose neighborhood. A mixed-use rezoning in Williamsburg advanced despite community opposition. The Board of Standards & Appeals granted a variance for the Knickerbocker Hotel’s conversion back to hospitality use and approved expanded commercial use for a …

Rulemaking In 140 Characters Or Less: Social Networking And Public Participation In Rulemaking, Cynthia R. Farina, Paul Miller, Mary J. Newhart, Claire Cardie, Dan Cosley, Rebecca Vernon

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appeal No. 0814: Ohio Valley Energy Systems V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Chief's Order 2009-19

Wireless Efficiency Versus Net Neutrality, Charles L. Jackson

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

This Article first addresses congestion and congestion control in the Internet. It shows how congestion control has always depended upon altruistic behavior by end users. Equipment failures, malicious acts, or abandonment of altruistic behavior can lead to severe congestion within the Internet. Consumers benefit when network operators are able to control such congestion. One tool for controlling such congestion is giving higher priority to some applications, such as telephone calls, and …

Spectrum Miscreants, Vigilantes, And Kangaroo Courts: The Return Of The Wireless Wars, Christian Sandvig

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

It is axiomatic that government licensing is a foundational requirement for the use of the electromagnetic spectrum. Yet in some bands there is no licensing requirement, providing an empirical site that can be used to examine wireless coexistence without licenses. This Article draws on ethnographic work with wireless Internet Service Providers to report on the extralegal means that are used to share or allocate spectrum in these license exempt bands. Operators …

Resilience: Building Better Users And Fair Trade Practices In Information, Andrea M. Matwyshyn

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

In the discourse on communications and new media policy, the average consumer-the user-is frequently eliminated from the equation. This Article presents an argument rooted in developmental psychology theory regarding the ways that users interact with technology and the resulting implications for data privacy law. Arguing in favor of a user-centric construction of policy and law, the Author introduces the concept of resilience. The concept of resilience has long been discussed in …

The Internet Ecosystem: The Potential For Discrimination, Dick Grunwald

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

This Article explores how the emerging Internet architecture of "cloud computing," content distribution networks, private peering and data-center services can simultaneously foster a perception of "unfair" network access while at the same time enabling significant competition for services, content, and innovation. A key enabler of these changes is the emergence of technologies that lower the barrier for entry in developing and deploying new services. Another is the design of successful Internet …

Television For All: Increasing Television Accessibility For The Visually Impaired Through The Fcc's Ability To Regulate Video Description Technology, Joshua S. Robare

Federal Communications Law Journal

Video descriptions allow people who have visual impairments to get the full benefits from television. Through voiceovers those who have problems seeing are told what is happening on screen allowing them to get the most out of viewing television. However, the Federal Communications Commission currently lacks the authority to require broadcasters to create video descriptions for their programs following the decision in Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission. This situation contrasts with closed caption which allows viewers with hearing problems read the dialog being said on screen. The FCC retained the power to regulate closed captions …

Rough Consensus And Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles Into Internet Policy Debates, Christopher S. Yoo

Federal Communications Law Journal

Symposium: Rough Consensus and Running Code: Integrating Engineering Principles into Internet Policy Debates, held at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Technology Innovation and Competition on May 6-7, 2010.

Restraining Amazon.Com's Orwellian Potential: The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act As Consumer Rights Legislation, Alicia C. Sanders

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 2009, Amazon.com decided to correct a potential copyright violation by deleting e-books by George Orwell and Ayn Rand from the Kindles of users who had already purchased the offending texts. Two of those users, Justin Gawronski and Antoine Bruguier, claimed that Amazon.com had violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by accessing their Kindles without authorization. The plaintiffs also relied on other causes of action, including breach of contract and trespass to chattels. Although the dispute quickly settled, the Gawronski lawsuit remains a useful case study that shows why the CFAA is a useful protection for consumers. Recently, …

Access To Media All A-Twitter: Revisiting Gertz And The Access To Media Test In The Age Of Social Networking, Ann E. O'Connor

Federal Communications Law Journal

Plaintiffs' access to media has long been a factor in defamation cases, enabling courts to determine whether that plaintiff is a public figure who must meet the actual malice standard, or whether that plaintiff is a private figure worthy of greater protection from defamation. This component of the public-private distinction can no longer be applied with clear precision, given the advent of social networking and today's world of widespread media access. In light of the massive changes that have taken place in the media world, the access to media test must be revisited and appropriately retailored to avoid an inappropriate …

Asylum Rights And Wrongs: What The Proposed Refugee Protection Act Will Do And What More Will Need To Be Done, Michele R. Pistone

Working Paper Series

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) added major new restrictions to U.S. asylum law. Several other laws passed in the wake of 9/11 produced additional restrictions. Various proposals to modify or even eliminate the changes made by IIRI¬RA and the post-9/11 laws have been introduced over the years; the Refu¬gee Protection Act of 2010 (RPA) is the most prominent recent example of these efforts. As this Article details, the RPA has much to commend within it, especially its proposed elimination of the one year deadline for asylum applications that was originally imposed by IIRIRA.

Testimony Of Rena Steinzor…Before The U.S. House Of Representatives, Energy And Commerce Committee, Subcommittee On Environment And Economics. 112th Congress, 1st Session (2011)., Rena I. Steinzor

Congressional Testimony

Environmental regulations have saved millions of lives, preventing chronic respiratory illness and heart attacks in cities across the country. These rules protect children from irreversible neurological damage, save billions of dollars in cleanup costs, and preserve water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. If anything, our regulatory system is dangerously weak, and Congress should focus on reviving it rather than eroding public protections….

Cityland – Vol. 8, No. 1, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2011

This issue of CityLand covers key land use and zoning developments in New York City as of February 15, 2011. Highlights include the City Council’s rejection of the landmark designation for Grace Episcopal Church Memorial Hall in Queens, citing community opposition and procedural concerns. The Council approved multiple zoning text amendments, including clarifications to the definitions of “development” and “building,” and modifications to the Lower Density Growth Management Area (LDGMA) regulations affecting Staten Island and the Bronx. Rezoning efforts in Bayside, Williamsburg, and Midtown South advanced mixed-use and affordable housing projects. The issue also reports on the creation of new …

Environmental Deliberative Democracy And The Search For Administrative Legitimacy: A Legal, Positivism Approach, Michael Ray Harris

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The failure of regulatory systems over the past two decades to lessen the environment degradation associated with modern human economic output has begun to undermine the legitimacy of environmental lawmaking in the United States and around the world. Recent scholarship suggests that reversal of this trend will require a breach of the environmental administrative apparatus by democratization of a particular kind, namely the inclusion of greater public discourse within the context of regulatory decision-making. This Article examines this claim through the lens of modern legal positivism. Legal positivism provides the tools necessary to test for and identify the specfic structural …

Chevron Deference To State Tax Agencies, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

The last installment of this column inaugurated a multi-installment project examining judicial doctrines of deference to interpretations and positions taken by state and local tax agencies. We noted that in the various states, these doctrines fall into about a half dozen categories.

This installment explores one of those categories. A major deference rule in federal administrative law (including tax law) emanates from the U.S. Supreme Court’s famous Chevron case. This installment considers the extent to which Chevron and similar approaches are applied in state and local tax cases.

The first part be low briefly describes C …

Credit Default Swaps And Clearing, Nazanin Baseri

Legislation and Policy Brief

In an article from 2000, an investigative journalist from The Banker warned against the hidden dangers of credit default swaps (CDS). Although CDSs can be a useful financial instrument for the banking industry, the article warned of the anonymity of credit derivatives, lack of transparency, and the potential for disaster. In an unfortunately accurate conclusion, the journalist opined that a crisis might occur because banks may not put in place the proper risk control systems in time to avert a disaster. Fast forward eight years and the financial meltdown of 2008 developed into one of the largest economic disasters in …

Following The Apa Will Not Eliminate Useful Guidance, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Federal Power, Non-Federal Actors: The Ramifications Of Free Enterprise Fund, Harold J. Krent

All Faculty Scholarship

In Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board the Supreme Court invalidated Congress’s decision to protect members of the Board from at will removal by the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose members in turn are protected from at will removal at the hands of the President. In the Court’s view, the congressional structure – in particular, the double layer of tenure insulation -- undermined the Article II imperative that all exercises of significant executive authority be subject to strong supervision by the President. The Court’s insistence in Free Enterprise Fund on formal presidential control over an inferior executive …

The Deep Seabed: The Laws Of Nature And Nature’S Manganese Nodules, Jeffrey C. Tuomala

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Chevron's Foundation, Mark Seidenfeld

Scholarly Publications

This Article addresses the question of how a court can justify deferring to an administrative agency interpretation of a statute under the Chevron doctrine given the accepted understanding that Article III of the Constitution makes the judiciary the ultimate decider of the meaning of law in any case or controversy that is properly before a court. It further considers the ramifications of the answer to that question on the potential forms that any doctrine of interpretive deference may assume.

This Article first rejects congressional intent to delegate interpretive primacy to agencies as the basis for Chevron. It argues that such …