Together with its companion case, Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, the US Supreme Court (SC) decision in Loper Bright v Raimondo overturned the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine, that required US Courts to defer to federal agencies on the interpretation of ambiguous laws passed by the US Congress.
The petitioners in Loper Bright case were a group of herring fishermen from New Jersey. They embody the classic American story: small businesses built from scratch that have grown into family-run operations and community cornerstones providing high-quality, ethically fished seafood at accessible prices.
Over the last 30 years, the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) gave the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the authority to require monitors on commercial fishing boats to ensure better adherence to ethical fishing practices, as mandated by NOAA. The MSA explicitly requires owners of an exhaustive list of fishing boats classes to pay for their own monitors. However, herring boats are not included on the list, which makes clear that Congress did not intend for herring fishermen to pay for their own monitors. For many years, NOAA agreed with and applied such an interpretation by paying for herring boat monitors themselves. The issue began when the government recently ran out of money to pay for certain at-sea monitoring programs. Instead of asking Congress for more money, NOAA suddenly decided that the herring fishermen must now foot the bill.
Ultimately, the SC held that Chevron was irreconcilable with Administrative Procedure Acts mandate that Courts, not agencies, decide legal questions by applying their judgments. However, an agency’s interpretation of a statute may provide the Courts persuasive guidance particularly if it is long-standing or well-reasoned.
This case will have rippling affects across federal agencies, from health to Inland Revenue Service, interpretation and applications of statutes. The ruling may give a boost to already pending legal challenges to overly broad federal agency actions. It appears that the US has returned to the UK common law principles of judicial interpretation and review. If a federal agency now issues a guidance or regulation contrary to statute, such act may be subject to judicial review and held to be ultra-vires.
For instance, we have seen such a potential case here in The Bahamas with the Health Services Rules. It still remains my strong opinion, especially given that no one has argued otherwise, that these regulations issued by the Minister of Health are contrary to the Health Services Act. With the recently reported uptick in COVID cases, which is always alarming in a low vaccination population. Moreover, all the corruption scandals make one wary as to whether COVID related deaths are being reported fairly. This calls into question whether there is an emerging epidemic and the PM ought to do the right thing in accordance with our constitution and declare a state of emergency so that rules may by lawfully enforced. Again, I digress.
Today, the US is in high gear with less than 100 days until the next election. Biden has officially stepped aside with a variety of constitutional amendments to limit the powers in the branches of government, and letting meme ready Harris take control of their overspending.
The world is faced with an outstanding match up in Trump vs Harris. As a newborn conservative and former Trump hater, I am going to have to give it to Trump. I mean . . . never served in the military but survived a bullet. It may be nearly impossible to beat such a patriot. His answers to questions have indeed gotten much better, but the aggressively anti-Trump liberal media unfortunately will continue to take things out of context. When faced with confrontation, if you were to listen to his full answers (not the clips we see on T.V.) you may better understand where he is coming from.
The media’s perceptions of candidate’s ‘like-ability’ will play a part in voter turnout, yet it ought not blind voters of the failed Bideconomics, immigration, and flip-flopping of policies by Harris. The mature voter will be looking out for substance. Meanwhile, the UK has just wrapped up its general elections. PM Starmar has appointed an interesting 50/50 gender parity cabinet and the Tory elections are all things to watch out for.
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