ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Administrative Agencies• Create/Enforce Majority Of Business Laws• Agencies Provide:

• Specificity• Expertise• Protection• Regulation• Services

Administrative Agencies• No provision for them in the

Constitution• Can perform the functions

of the three branches of government.

• What are the functions of the 3 branches of government?

• Legislative branch: Makes the law

• Executive Branch: Implements or executes the law

• Judicial branch: Interprets the laws, applies them to factual situations and makes determinations

Agency Functions• Rulemaking/Guidelines = Quasi-Legislative Power• Adjudicating = Quasi-Judicial, Fact-Finding &

Applying Law• Cease & Desist• Consent

• Advising• Investigating

Administrative Agencies- Examples

• Federal Trade Commission• National Labor Relations Board• Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission• Securities & Exchange Commission• Environmental Protection Agency• Federal Aviation Administration

• Consumer Product Safety Commission• Federal Communications Commission• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission• Federal Reserve Board• Food & Drug Administration• Nuclear Regulatory Commission• Occupational Safety & Health

Administration

HOW DO THE THREE BRANCHES OF GOVERNEMNT CONTROL WHAT AGENCIES DO?

• Legislature?

• Executive?

• Judicial?

Legislative branch

• Appropriates money

• Passes statutes

• Can create or dismantle most agencies

Executive Branch

• Appoints the agency head

• Makes budget recommendations

Judicial branch

• Interprets regulations and rules issued by the agencies

• Determines if the rules or regulations are constitutional

Quasi-Judicial Procedures

ComplaintComplaint

RespondentRespondentAgencyAgency

AnswerAnswer

Admin. Law JudgeAdmin. Law JudgeEvidence- AdmissibilityEvidence- Admissibility

MotionsMotionsInitial DecisionInitial Decision

EvidenceEvidence EvidenceEvidence

Final OrderFinal Order

AppealAppeal30 Days30 Days

Judicial Review Of Adjudications

• Agency Authority Limited• Delegated From Legislature• Develop Rules Of Procedure

• Courts Lack Authority To Substitute For Agency• Doctrines

• Exhaustion Of Remedies• Primary Jurisdiction

Review Of Factual Determinations

• Court • Presumes Findings Of Fact Correct• Analyzes Agency Proceedings

• Court Does Not• Reweigh Evidence• Make Independent Determination• Substitute Its View For Agency’s

Federal Laws that Limit Actions of Federal Agencies

• Due Process Clause

• Administrative Procedures Act• Federal Register

• Freedom of Information Act

• Privacy Act

APPEALING A SOCIAL SECURITY DENIAL

Social Security Claim is denied.

Request RECONSIDERATION

Hearing before ALJ

Review by APPEALS COUNCIL IN SSA

FEDERAL COURT review

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Matthews v. Eldridge424 U.S. 319, 96 S. Ct. 893

• Eldridge had been receiving SS disability benefits.

• SSA administration notified him that they no longer considered him to be disabled and were terminating his benefits.

• He was entitled to appeal using the procedure on the previous slide

Matthews v. Eldridge (cont’d)

• Brought suit in federal district court alleging it violated his due process rights to terminate his benefits before his hearing.

• He relied on the case of Goldberg v. Kelly, which involved welfare benefits.

• How do welfare benefits differ from SS disability benefits?

Matthews v. Eldridge (cont’d)

• The Supreme Court applied a balancing test:

• The nature of the interest involved

• Possibility of erroneous deprivation & whether add’l procedures will relieve that possibility and

• The nature of the govt interest in not providing such additional procedures.

Hearing Procedure• Who makes the decision? (ALJ)

• What are the parties called? Claimant and respondent

• What is the burden of proof? Usually preponderance of the evidence; sometimes, clear & convincing

• Can the parties bring representation?

• Is the decision appealable? If so, to whom?

Federal Laws that Limit Actions of Federal Agencies

• Due Process Clause

• Administrative Procedures Act• Federal Register

• Freedom of Information Act

• Privacy Act

Freedom of information Act (FOIA)• The FOI Act applies to every “agency,” “department,” “regulatory

commission,” “government controlled corporation,” and “other establishment” in the executive branch of the federal government.

• This includes Cabinet offices, such as the departments of Defense, State, Treasury, Interior, Justice (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Bureau of Prisons); independent regulatory agencies and commissions, such as the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission; “government controlled corporations,” such as the Postal Service and Amtrak; and presidential commissions.

• The FOI Act also applies to the Executive Office of the President and the Office of Management and Budget, but not to the President or his immediate staff.

Freedom of information Act (FOIA)• The Act does not apply to Congress, the federal

courts, private corporations or federally funded state agencies.

• Documents generated by these groups and filed with executive branch agencies of the federal government become subject to disclosure under the Act, just as if they were documents created by the agencies.

• Congressional agencies such as the Library of Congress and the General Accounting Office follow their own records disclosure rules and procedures patterned after the FOI Act.

Freedom of information Act (FOIA)• The FOI Act is very broad. • It covers all “records” in the possession or control

of a federal agency. • The term “records” is defined expansively to

include all types of documentary information, such as papers, reports, letters, films, computer tapes, photographs and sound recordings.

• Physical objects which cannot be reproduced.

FOIA Exemptions

• National Security • Internal Agency Rules • Statutory Exemption • Trade Secrets • Internal Agency Memoranda • Personal Privacy • Law Enforcement Records • Bank Reports • Oil and Gas Well Data

STATE LAWS

• All states and the District of Columbia have their own open records laws.

• The laws can vary, but for the most part they follow the format of FOIA.

• In Georgia, citizens may only obtain relief for violations by filing a court action. (So there is limited enforcement.)

• Open Records Guide: http://www.rcfp.org/ogg/

Agency Rule-Making

• Example of tax laws• Agency is the Internal Revenue Service• The statutes, The Internal Revenue Code, is

passed by Congress.• The agency issues regulations. (Treasury

Regulations.)• Have the force & effect of law• Written by the agency, approved by the Treasury Dept,

and are covered by the APA and published in the Federal Register.

Judicial Review of Agency Rule-Making

• If there is a conflict between a regulation & a statute, the statute prevails

• A regulation with be struck down• If it is unconstitutional• The agency is exceeding its authority• It conflicts with a statute

Administrative Law Resources

• http://www.loc.gov/law/help/administrative.html

• http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/administrative_law