Case Library
NCLA Case Finder
Case Opened: January 7, 2019
Focus Area:
Guidance Abuse
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
Jurisdiction: 10th Cir. | SCOTUS
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Guidance Abuse
Agency guidance is easier to promulgate than formal rules and regulations, so agencies prefer to issue it. Such “guidance” supplies relatively informal indications of how an agency interprets rules and statutes. Although guidance is not permitted to bind Americans (unlike laws made by elected legislators), agencies treat guidance as binding and courts often fail to stop them.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Laramie County Planning Commission
Jurisdiction: Wyo. 1st Jud. Dist, Laramie Cnty., Wyo. | Wyoming
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Agency: Internal Revenue Service
Jurisdiction: 9th Cir. | SCOTUS
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: February 24, 2025
Focus Area:
Due Process Violations
The due process of law guarantees a right to be held to account only through the processes of an impartial court—something administrative tribunals violate every day.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Department of the Interior | National Park Service | U.S. Attorney General
Jurisdiction: S.D. Tex.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Agency: U.S. Sentencing Commission
Jurisdiction: SCOTUS | W.D. Ark.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Due Process Violations
The due process of law guarantees a right to be held to account only through the processes of an impartial court—something administrative tribunals violate every day.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Centers for Disease Control
Jurisdiction: 11th Cir. | N.D. Ga.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Due Process Violations
The due process of law guarantees a right to be held to account only through the processes of an impartial court—something administrative tribunals violate every day.
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Jurisdiction: SCOTUS
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: March 25, 2019
Focus Area:
Guidance Abuse
Agency guidance is easier to promulgate than formal rules and regulations, so agencies prefer to issue it. Such “guidance” supplies relatively informal indications of how an agency interprets rules and statutes. Although guidance is not permitted to bind Americans (unlike laws made by elected legislators), agencies treat guidance as binding and courts often fail to stop them.
Judicial Deference
Deference doctrines require judges to defer to an administrative agency’s fact finding, or its interpretation of statutes and regulations. Thus, judges surrender their independent judgment and, where the government is a party, must exhibit systematic bias in the government’s favor, which denies due process of law to the other litigant.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms | Department of Justice
Jurisdiction: 5th Cir. | SCOTUS | W.D. Tex.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Conditions on Spending
Administrative agencies use unconstitutional conditions on spending to regulate the conduct of grantees. Rather than rule through law, the government simply purchases submission.
Due Process Violations
The due process of law guarantees a right to be held to account only through the processes of an impartial court—something administrative tribunals violate every day.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Small Business Adminstration
Jurisdiction: D. Md.
Role: Counsel
Case Status: Closed
Focus Area:
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Department of Education
Jurisdiction: D. Kan.
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: November 10, 2021
Focus Area:
Administrative Speech Controls
The Administrative State tries to squelch speech, especially through licensing, speech bans, and speech mandates. Licensing requires one to get the government’s permission prior to speaking. Nothing was more clearly forbidden by the First Amendment than prior restraints on speech, but such controls are now commonplace.
Agency: Connecticut Statewide Bar Counsel
Jurisdiction: 2nd Cir. | D. Conn.
Role: Counsel
Case Opened: December 18, 2019
Focus Area:
Due Process Violations
The due process of law guarantees a right to be held to account only through the processes of an impartial court—something administrative tribunals violate every day.
Scope of Authority / Nondelegation
The structure of the Constitution allows only Congress to legislate, only the Executive to enforce laws, and only the Judiciary to decide cases. But the Administrative State evades the Constitution’s avenues of governance when executive agencies issue regulations without statutory authorization from Congress.
Agency: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Jurisdiction: 2nd Cir. | S.D. NY | SCOTUS
Role: Counsel