Administrative Law Flashcards w/ Facts

Vocabulary flashcards for reviewing administrative law cases.

Goldberg v. Kelly

Rule: Pre-termination hearings are required in welfare termination cases to protect recipients from erroneous benefit termination.

Facts: Welfare recipients in NYC challenged the termination of their benefits without a hearing.

Mathews v. Eldridge

Rule: When terminating disability benefits, the state may rely solely on medical records, eliminating the need for a pre-termination hearing.

Facts: Eldridge's disability benefits were terminated based on a questionnaire and medical reports without a hearing.

Hamdi v. Rumsfeld

Rule: Even enemy combatants who are U.S. citizens have a right to minimum due process.

Facts: Hamdi, a U.S. citizen captured in Afghanistan, was detained as an enemy combatant without due process.

State v. Loomis

Rule: Due process rights are not violated if a risk assessment tool is only one factor in sentencing, and sentencing is justified independently.

Facts: Loomis's sentencing considered a risk assessment tool, but the court maintained it was only one factor.

Board of Regents State Colleges v. Roth

Rule: Pre-termination hearings are not required when there is no deprivation of a liberty or property interest.

Facts: Roth, a non-tenured professor, was not rehired, and he claimed a right to a hearing.

Perry v. Sindermann

Rule: When there is de facto tenure (implied tenure) in a government job, a pre-termination hearing is required because the employee is entitled to their job.

Facts: Sindermann, a professor, was employed for a long period and claimed he had tenure despite the lack of a formal tenure system.

Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. Loudermill

Rule: There is a property interest in civil service employment, and the government must give employees a pre-termination hearing.

Facts: Loudermill, a security guard, was fired without a pre-termination hearing.

Richardson v. Perales

Rule: Benefits can be denied based on evidence heard at a hearing that would otherwise be inadmissible under the rules of evidence.

Facts: Perales's disability benefits were denied based on a doctor's report, which Perales argued was hearsay.

Nash v. Califano

Rule: Administrative Law Judges may rely on published guidelines when making decisions.

Facts: Nash's disability benefits were denied, and the decision relied on published guidelines.

Air Line Pilots Association v. Quesada

Rule: The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) does not require individual hearings for a rule of general applicability that affects the property rights of individuals.

Facts: Airline pilots challenged a rule requiring them to retire at age 60 without individual hearings.

National Petroleum Refiners Association v. Federal Trade Commission

Rule: Agencies can create both procedural and substantive rules.

Facts: The FTC issued a rule defining certain practices as unfair trade practices.

Pacific States Box & Basket Co. v. White

Rule: Rules can only be struck down as arbitrary if there is no rational connection between the rule and its purpose; deference must be given to an administrative agency exercising power delegated by the legislature.

Facts: A company challenged regulations on fruit containers.

Automotive Parts & Accessories Association v. Boyd

Rule: An informal hearing satisfies the informal rulemaking requirements of Section 553 of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Facts: Parties challenged a motor vehicle safety standard promulgated after informal rulemaking.

Nat’l Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association, Inc. v. Brinegar

Rule: Rules adopted by agencies must be practicable and meet the need for which they seek to address.

Facts: Tire dealers challenged a regulation requiring tire identification numbers.

Motor Vehicle Manufacturers’ Assoc. v. State Farm Mutual Auto Ins. Co.

Rule: The standard for overturning the revocation of a rule is the same standard as overturning the adoption of a rule: arbitrary and capricious.

Facts: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revoked a rule requiring airbags in cars.

General Electric Co. v. EPA

Rule: An agency must provide fair notice of its regulatory interpretations to the regulated public before imposing a fine based on the alleged violation of the regulations.

Facts: General Electric was fined by the EPA for violating regulations based on an interpretation that GE claimed was not clear.

Center for Auto Safety v. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Rule: Guidelines issued by an administrative agency that are nothing more than general policy statements with no legal force are not subject to the requirements of notice-and-comment rulemaking.

Facts: The Center for Auto Safety challenged guidelines issued by NHTSA.

Texas v. United States

Rule: If an administrative agency’s purported general policy statement is applied by the agency in a way that indicates that it is a binding rule, the rule requires notice- and-comment rulemaking.

Facts: Several states challenged a DAPA memorandum, arguing it was actually a rule.

United States v. Novia Scotia Food Products Corp.

Rule: An agency promulgating a rule through informal notice-and-comment rulemaking is required to provide a concise general statement that identifies the major issues of policy considered by the agency and the rationale for reacting to those issues.

Facts: Nova Scotia Food challenged an FDA regulation on smoked whitefish.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

Rule: An agency does not have to follow more rulemaking procedures other than those required by §553 of APA unless Congress demands more or the agency itself chooses at its discretion to provide more.

Facts: NRDC challenged the procedures used by the Atomic Energy Commission in licensing nuclear power plants.

Sierra Club v. Costle

Rule: An agency can take late comments or seek comments from experts as long as they are docketed to give the public the opportunity to rebut them.

Facts: Sierra Club challenged EPA regulations, arguing that the EPA improperly considered late comments.

Securities & Exchange Commission v. Chenery Corp.

Rule: When an agency fails, they can try again with a new rational basis, evidence, etc. A new basis will defeat an arbitrary and capricious challenge.

Facts: Chenery Corp. was involved in a reorganization, and the SEC's decision was challenged as arbitrary.

Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, Inc. v. Volpe

Rule: Informal agency action does not need to be accompanied by formal findings and conclusions, but the agency must nonetheless give reasons for its actions.

Facts: Citizens challenged the Secretary of Transportation's decision to build a highway through a park.

Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations, Inc.

Rule: The Administrative Procedure Act generally does not require an agency to show that its new policy is preferable to the existing policy it replaces.

Facts: Fox challenged the FCC's policy on indecent broadcasts.

Johnson v. Robison

Rule: Statutory preclusion does not apply in cases involving constitutional violations.

Facts: Robison challenged a law denying educational benefits to conscientious objectors.

Webster v. Doe

Rule: Constitutional claims always receive judicial review; Congress must provide clear and convincing evidence if it intends to preclude judicial review of constitutional claims.

Facts: Doe, a CIA employee, was fired based on his sexual orientation and challenged the decision.

Heckler v. Chaney

Rule: An administrative agency’s decision not to take enforcement action is presumed immune from judicial review.

Facts: Chaney challenged the FDA's refusal to take enforcement action against the use of drugs in lethal injections.

Massachusetts v. EPA

Rule: States can be plaintiffs and have standing as long as all elements of standing are met. For standing to be appropriate, an actual case or controversy must be present, which is characterized by a truly adversarial relationship.

Facts: Massachusetts sued the EPA for failing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Norton v. Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance

Rule: Section 706(1) of the Administrative Procedure Act does not give courts the authority to enter general orders compelling agencies to comply with broad statutory mandates. The APA allows challenges only to final, discrete agency actions that are legally required.

Facts: SUWA sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for failing to protect wilderness areas.

Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner

Rule: Judicial review is only available to final agency action.

Facts: Abbott challenged FDA regulations requiring drug labels to include generic names.

Toilet Goods Association v. Gardner

Rule: Speculation that injury may occur at some point does not meet the standard of “direct, immediate, and concrete injury”.

Facts: Toilet Goods Association challenged FDA regulations allowing inspections of cosmetic manufacturers.

Dalton v. Specter

Rule: In order to have standing, there must be final agency action.

Facts: Specter challenged the President's decision to close a naval shipyard.

Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp

Rule: Plaintiff must suffer injury-in-fact, and the injury must be within the zone of interest under the applicable statute.

Facts: Data processors challenged a ruling allowing banks to offer data processing services.

6 ways to overturn agency decision

To overturn an agency decision, prove that the decision or agency:

1. Is arbitrary and capricious
2. Is contrary to a constitutional right/privilege/immunity
3. Was made outside of the agency’s jurisdiction
4. Did not follow the proper procedures in making decision
5. Not supported by substantial evidence in the record
6. Unwarranted by the facts presented (to extent the facts are subject to a de novo review)

Hearing requirements

1. Notice
2. Opportunity to be heard
3. Right to cross examine adverse witnesses
4. Opportunity to present evidence

What constitutes a property interest?

1. Occupational/professional license issued by the government/granted by an administrative agency responsible for regulating these professions
2. Social welfare benefits to which a citizen is statutorily entitled (social security, unemployment, workers’ comp., disability)
3. Government employment (teachers, every civil service job)1. Business permits and liquor licenses

What constitutes a liberty interest?

1. Freedom to engage in occupation of choice
2. Freedom from physical restraint
3. Freedom to practice religion of choice

What interests require due process?

Termination of welfare benefits; termination of state teacher in system with tenure; public employment in a civil service system; physical detention.

What interests DO NOT require due process?

Termination of disability benefits; termination of a teacher with a one-year contract

Types of rules

Procedural - functioning of the agency

Interpretive - enacted to explain the relevant statute

Legislative - imposing new substantive rules

Informal / Notice & Comment Rulemaking

More common than formal rule making.

1. Publish notice of intended rule
2. Give public/industries time to comment on rule - between 30-90 days
3. Read and consider all comments
4. Decide to adopt the rule based on comments
5. Create a “Final Order” which gives opinion on why the rule was adopted and rationale for rejecting comments in opposition
6. Notice published in Federal Register

How to overturn an agency rule?

Find that it is arbitrary or capricious (aka, must be rational connection between the rule and its purpose)

Find that rule exceeds statutory authority of agency

Find that the rule was adopted without following proper procedure

What are the nine exceptions to FOIA disclosure?

1. Classified documents related to nat’l security/foreign policy
2. Internal rules/practice of the agency
3. Materials expressly prohibited from disclosure by statute
4. Trade secrets, financial information
5. Atty work product/Atty communication
6. Medical and personnel files of agency employees
7. Law enforcement records/investigatory reports
8. Bank Audits
9. Geological/geophysical information and data

When are agencies excepted from judicial review?

Agencies are excepted from judicial review when there is a statutory preclusion or the decision is committed within the discretion of the agency. Failure of agency to act is subject to judicial review in the same sense that agency’s decision to act is.

Elements of Standing for Judicial Review

1. Injury in fact - Plaintiff suffered concrete, particularized injury
2. Not speculative - Injury is actual, immediate, direct or imminent
3. Traceability - injury must be caused by defendant
4. It is likely that a favorable decision will redress the injury

When can a plaintiff bring a case?

Must have standing,