Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Doctrine in Landmark Decision

Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Doctrine in Landmark Decision. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to overturn the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council case. This decision ends the controversial Chevron doctrine. The case involved was Relentless Inc. v. Dept. of Commerce, argued alongside Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo.

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The Court vacated and remanded the First Circuit’s decision. This decision had upheld a rule requiring fishing companies to pay for at-sea government monitors. New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA), representing the fishing companies, hailed this as a monumental victory. The ruling curtails administrative power abuses.

The Court emphasized the Administrative Procedure Act. Courts must review agency rules de novo. Despite the government’s plea to uphold Chevron, the Court rejected it. Chevron doctrine was deemed unworkable and not deserving of stare decisis. The Court reaffirmed that federal courts must interpret the law.

Chief Justice Roberts remarked, “Chevron was a judicial invention that required judges to disregard their statutory duties.” He stressed the need to abandon Chevron for a principled legal development. This decision prevents federal agencies from wielding undue deference against Americans.

Concurring opinions highlighted constitutional issues with Chevron deference. NCLA founder Philip Hamburger has long emphasized these. Judges abandoning independent judgment and litigants not receiving impartial adjudication violate due process.

Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Doctrine in Landmark Decision

The government argued that Chevron supports Congress’s power to delegate policy decisions. However, the Court ruled that statutory ambiguities do not grant agencies authority. Interpreting ambiguities is a legal action for Article III courts. The Magnuson-Stevens Act does not mandate fishermen to pay for monitoring in the New England herring fishery. This means the government must bear the cost, as it did for 20 years.

The case returns to a lower court. NCLA and its clients aim to defeat NOAA’s rule and restore the industry’s status quo.

In response to the ruling, NCLA announced the creation of the “Relentless Working Group.” This group will ensure federal agencies adhere to the decision. It will bring together public-interest groups to fight against agency actions that ignore or circumvent the ruling. Congress cannot delegate judicial power to executive agencies.

Statements from NCLA:

“Today is a really special day and the culmination of almost a decade of work to protect the rights of fishermen. We finally saw a return to ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ as inscribed above the Supreme Court entrance. No more will fishermen and other American citizens lose their rights through judicial deference to government agencies. From now on, NOAA and other federal agencies will have to think about the consequences of their actions without the benefit of Chevron. We finally have an even playing field in the courts, and the government will have to pay its own regulators’ salaries without forcing that cost directly on hard-working fishermen. I’m so grateful.” — Meghan Lapp, Fisheries Liaison & General Manager, Seafreeze, Ltd.

“This ruling is long overdue. To allow agencies to pick the pocket of the regulated without congressional authorization is against all the principles of representative government and our constitutional structure.” — John Vecchione, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA

NCLA, representing the fishing companies, hailed this as a monumental victory.

“NCLA’s fishermen clients have landed the biggest catch of their lives by persuading the U.S. Supreme Court to take its thumb off the scale when ordinary Americans are contesting unlawful government regulations. When NCLA was founded less than seven years ago, taking down Chevron deference was priority number one, because agencies have used it so often to violate people’s civil liberties. That ability ends today! It is deeply gratifying to have overturned Chevron so quickly. The dismantling of the unlawful Administrative State has officially begun.” — Mark Chenoweth, President, NCLA

“Today’s decision vindicates the rule of law. By ending Chevron deference, the Court has taken a major step to shut down unlawful power grabs by federal agencies and to preserve the separation of powers. Going forward, judges will be charged with interpreting the law faithfully, impartially, and independently, without deference to the government. This is a win for individual liberty and the Constitution.” — Roman Martinez, Latham & Watkins partner who delivered oral argument in the Relentless case.

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Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Doctrine in Landmark Decision