Richard W. Parker was a brilliant lawyer, an accomplished teacher and scholar, and a valued member of the administrative law community. He cared deeply about people—foremost his family, about whom he spoke lovingly, and about all others with whom he interacted. Richard’s concern for others is reflected well in the remembrances that have been assembled […]
Editors’ Note: This post was originally published on October 11, 2021, but is reposted here as part of our series remembering Richard Parker. I am so deeply saddened to report that Professor Richard Parker from the University of Connecticut Law School passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, October 3, 2021. Like many, I first met Richard Parker at the […]
I am so deeply saddened to report that Professor Richard Parker from the University of Connecticut Law School passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, October 3, 2021. Like many, I first met Richard Parker at the ABA Administrative Law Section’s fall conference many years ago. Richard was so welcoming to a new junior colleague. His smile […]
In case you missed it, May was Public Service Recognition Month here at Notice & Comment. We published tributes to an amazing group of public servants: A Tribute to Judge H. Alexander Manuel, by Patricia B. Miles The Example of Ingrid Schroffner: Any Exemplary Government Lawyer, Advocate for Diversity, and Mentor, by Renée M. Landers […]
Please join us on April 10th, 2021, when the the Administrative Law Review will be hosting its spring symposium on the Rise of AI in Federal Agencies! It will consist of two panels and will be moderated by Professor Jeffery Lubbers. The panels will cover the benefits of the use of AI in federal agencies, the […]
Created in 1989, the Mary C. Lawton Award for Outstanding Government Service honors the memory of Mary Lawton, a distinguished career government lawyer who served on the Council of the Administrative Law Section from 1983-1986, and as Chair of the Section’s Judicial Review Committee from 1986 to 1988. A graduate of Georgetown Law School where […]
It was a very quiet week in the D.C. Circuit — just two opinions. In Waggel v. George Washington University, Judge Rao (joined by Judges Rogers and Garland), affirmed that a psychiatry resident could not sue her former employer because she did not request an accommodation or “rebut the University’s legitimate justifications for its actions.” […]
Markets vs. Regulation Many of us think about regulation in somewhat dichotomous terms, namely as a choice between free markets and government regulation. Under the standard view, the market optimally provides many goods and services. In the competition of various firms pricing their goods and services, the “hidden” hand” of the market will lead to […]
“Procedures are politics.” P. 201. Rachel Potter’s book, Bending the Rules: Procedural Politicking in the Bureaucracy, examines agencies’ choices in structuring their rulemaking processes. One might assume that each agency follows a consistent procedure across all its rulemakings, but Prof. Potter suggests otherwise. For instance, comment periods often vary greatly, p. 119, as do choices […]
Summary: In National Women’s Law Center v. OMB, 2019 WL 1025867 (D.D.C. March 4, 2019), a District Judge overturned the Trump Administration’s effort to stay a reporting requirement, approved by the outgoing Obama Administration, designed to uncover pay disparities based on gender, race, and ethnicity. OMB had invoked the Paperwork Reduction Act to stay the […]
I love snow. It’s wonderful to wake up in the morning and see the world covered in it. Everything looks the same … but different. The air smells better. My kids and I can throw snowballs and — if there is enough of it — even go sledding. Now, perhaps I wouldn’t love snow so […]
About ten years ago, I came across a phrase I had never heard before: dog’s breakfast. It was in a dissent penned by Chief Justice Roberts. Here is the passage: When the state courts considered these cases, our precedents did not provide them with “clearly established” law, but instead a dog’s breakfast of divided, conflicting, […]
On September 28, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Thacker v. Tennessee Valley Authority (“Thacker v. TVA”). Order, Dkt. 17-1201, 2018 WL 4650382. (The docket sheet is available here.) The case raises the question of whether an implied discretionary function exception, akin to that in the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”), 28 U.S.C. §2680(a), bars […]
And . . . that’s a wrap. Thank you to the many commentators who participated in the Notice & Comment symposium over the past two weeks regarding the Supreme Court’s upcoming consideration of the Appointments Clause in Lucia v. SEC. The Court will hear oral argument in the case on Monday, April 23. In Lucia, […]
Starting today, for the next two weeks the Notice & Comment blog will run a symposium addressing the Supreme Court’s upcoming consideration of the constitutionality of hiring procedures for administrative law judges in the Securities and Exchange Commission. On Monday, April 23, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Lucia v. SEC, which raises […]