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A Catastrophic Assault on our Civil Liberties

A Catastrophic Assault on our Civil Liberties

The more laws, the less justice.  Cicero Imagine if your Senator or Congressman proposed a law that required every American to turn over to the government data for every single trade they made in the market. Your broker could not opt out, nor could you, unless you...

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To Griggs Or Not To Griggs, That Is The Question

To Griggs Or Not To Griggs, That Is The Question

In 2020, the Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in Bostock v. Clayton County and R.G. & G.R. Funeral Homes v. EEOC. Title VII...

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What We’re Watching – Fleming v. USDA, No. 17-1246

What We’re Watching – Fleming v. USDA, No. 17-1246

On Friday, November 15, D.C. Circuit Judges Srinivasan, Katsas, and Rao heard oral arguments in Joe Fleming, et al. v. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, No. 17-1246, which challenges the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Administrative Law Judges’ appointments and tenure...

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Lawyers, Heal Yourselves!

Lawyers, Heal Yourselves!

  Lawyers, heal yourselves! My work at New Civil Liberties Alliance involves reining in the Administrative State. Every day brings new revelations of the vast sweep and deep tentacles of the modern Administrative State across every level of government.  Do you know...

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Time to Clear the Fog of Agency Secrecy from the Swamp

Time to Clear the Fog of Agency Secrecy from the Swamp

The two executive orders issued by the White House—“Bringing Guidance out of the Darkness,” and “Transparency and Fairness”—promise to start clearing the fog of faulty guidance documents issued by federal administrative agencies in the so-called Washington...

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The Next Level of Rulemaking Madness

The Next Level of Rulemaking Madness

Despite the fact that both the Constitution and Administrative Procedure Act prohibit the practice, federal agencies often engage in the common-place tactic of issuing informal interpretations, fact sheets, and other forms of “guidance,” the practical...

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The Wholesale Nullification of FOIA

The Wholesale Nullification of FOIA

               The Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, is one of the most important legal tools Americans have for ensuring the federal government is transparent. Given the mammoth size of the federal bureaucracy, FOIA helps inform Americans of “what...

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Ignoring Reality and the Law of Unintended Consequences

Ignoring Reality and the Law of Unintended Consequences

 The United States Forest Service (“USFS”) dropped the “Roadless Rule” (66 Fed.Reg. 3244) on the public in the last ten days of the Clinton administration, the outcome of which was to essentially deny access to and management of 58.5 million acres of...

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The SEC’s Made-up Power to Punish

The SEC’s Made-up Power to Punish

             At some point in every lawyer’s career, they become familiar with, what I call, “hallway law.” This is the set of rules that everyone seems to think apply, but don’t actually have any basis in the law. Hallway law exists merely from inertia,...

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Merck & Co. v. HHS: Is There a Tao of Chevron?

Merck & Co. v. HHS: Is There a Tao of Chevron?

Taoism is a Chinese philosophy that is often represented by the yin-yang—a symbol of contrasting opposites in perfect balance with each other.  From the Taoist perspective, “day” is only “day” in relationship to the night.  In other words, all things are...

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FDA Shadow Regulations Target Fido’s Dinner

FDA Shadow Regulations Target Fido’s Dinner

Answers Pet Food, a brand created by Pennsylvania-based company Lystn to provide high quality, organic pet food, is being targeted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for failing to comply with an unofficial, zero-tolerance policy toward naturally occurring...

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FINRA is a Double-Delegation Disaster

FINRA is a Double-Delegation Disaster

Photo by Ajay Suresh, Rights Reserved The current nondelegation doctrine may not be long for this world, evidenced by the concurrence and dissent in this term’s Gundy v. United States. In its present iteration, the doctrine allows Congress to give away legislative...

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Bye-Bye, Buildingcrats

Bye-Bye, Buildingcrats

“I like not fair terms and a villain’s mind.” –William Shakespeare, The Merchant of VeniceWhen I told my friend (and fellow bookworm) that Strand Bookstore had just been designated a “landmark” in New York City, my friend clapped and smiled, excited at the idea that...

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