Columbia Law faculty explore the impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Loper Bright to overturn a case that has been central to administrative law for 40 years.
The Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, issued June 28, overturned a 40-year-old legal doctrine and carried with it the potential to upend federal regulation and administrative law. In a Lawyers, Community, and Impact webinar held on July 2, six Columbia Law legal scholars discussed the demise of the Chevron doctrine, established in 1984, which required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretation of ambiguous regulations.
Thomas W. Merrill, Charles Evans Hughes Professor of Law and author of The Chevron Doctrine: Its Rise and Fall, and the Future of the Administrative State, kicked off the discussion, which was moderated by Kathryn Judge, Harvey J. Goldschmid Professor of Law.
“This is regime change,” said Merrill, who submitted an amicus brief in support of neither party in the case arguing that Chevron should be upheld. “Any time you have a dramatic regime change in the way courts conduct themselves deciding a whole body of cases, all sorts of questions are raised that have to be resolved.”
Administrative and constitutional law scholars joined Merrill on the panel, including Richard Briffault, Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation; Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Betts Professor of Law; Jeremy Kessler, Stanley H. Fuld Professor of Law; Gillian Metzger, Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law; and Peter L. Strauss, Betts Professor Emeritus of Law.
Loper Bright was argued in tandem with a similar case, Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce; the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonprofit litigation group founded by Philip Hamburger, Maurice & Hilda Friedman Professor of Law, represented the petitioner in that case. Hamburger also submitted an amicus brief in support of Loper Bright.
Watch the full event, above.
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Launched in 2016 by Dean Gillian Lester, the series invites Columbia Law experts to talk about the most pressing issues of our time and brings deeper context and perspective to the work Columbia Law community members do both inside and outside the classroom.
https://www.law.columbia.edu/news/archive/watch-understanding-demise-chevron-doctrine
