Conventional wisdom proclaims the D.C. Circuit to be “the second most important court.” (Sometimes it’s even called “the second most powerful court.”) The Washington Post says it; the New York Times says it; even media outlets halfway around the world say it. But is it true? There is a good argument that the California Supreme […]
A couple of weeks back I flagged that ACUS is hiring. Well, today I have learned that the Administrative Conference of the United States is also requesting proposals for a study examining the use of electronic case management in agency adjudication. Here’s the link. Proposals are due on October 2, 2015. If you study agency […]
Why does the Supreme Court forbid cameras in the courtroom? It isn’t because courtroom sketches are flattering. Instead, the Justices fear that cameras will change the dynamic of the Court. And why do law clerks have a duty of confidentiality? The reason is similar. Whatever you think of these policies, you can at least appreciate […]
I’ve been enjoying my co-blogger Aaron Nielson’s review of the DC Circuit’s cases. Perhaps some of this pleasure comes from my memories of clerking there, for the great Stephen F. Williams, the intellectual godfather of many an academic’s career—it’s a uniquely interesting place to clerk, with cases that can be at the core of some […]
On March 27, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) posted a notice of public hearing and request for comments about “the current use of human drug and biological products labeled as homeopathic, as well as the Agency’s regulatory framework for such products.” The FDA took this action because the previously limited homeopathic drug market […]
Sarah Kliff has a nice explainer at Vox about how the House’s lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act could get some traction. As I’ve said before, the case should be dismissed for want of standing, and I suspect that it eventually will be—if not by the district court, then on appeal. But what if the […]
I begin this week’s post with a public service announcement: law students (and, increasingly, law graduates), if you want to clerk on the D.C. Circuit, you need to read more than just Reading Law, Federal Jurisdiction, and administrative law guides and treatises. One of the most common questions a judge will ask in an interview […]
It may be the case that legal academics in the U.S. are no longer rewarded for writing treatises. Fortunately for us, the same standard appears not to apply to our British counterparts. Rosa M. Lastra, one of the leading experts on central banks and a pioneer in central banking law, has written the second edition […]
Walter Dellinger, a former Solicitor General of the United States, has a compelling op-ed in the Washington Post about House of Representatives v. Burwell, the latest effort to maim the ACA in the courts. Read it. He makes a quick, convincing case for why the House lacks standing to sue. ( I made a similar […]
The D.C. Circuit’s theme today was, of all things, the Bible. Start with Settling Devotional Claimants v. CRB. The case concerns whether the (now constitutional) Copyright Royalty Board correctly divvied up a pool of royalties among “religious ministries that own copyrights for devotional television programming.” Certain “Devotional Claimants” argued, among other things, that “the Royalty […]
As the Chair of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) is one of the most important figures in Washington and Wall Street. Among his targets is reforming the Fed, including the Fed’s governance. Recently, Senator Shelby has announced that he has a bone to pick with the Obama Administration on this score. […]
A long-running dispute over the First Amendment flared up this past Friday, when a federal judge in New York told FDA that it couldn’t prevent a drug manufacturer from discussing research supporting an off-label use of its drug. The drug at issue is Vascepa, the active ingredient of which is an omega-3 fatty acid. It’s […]
Interesting news for admin law aficionados. The Administrative Conference of the United States –ACUS—is hiring. If you really love administrative law, it is hard to imagine a better place to spend some time.
Sometimes a gridlocked Congress means that an energized President and ambitious state lawmakers compete to solve the Nation’s social problems. But this competition may not make for innovative solutions. Instead, it may make more for more gridlock. Consider Texas v. United States. There a cadre of states have sued to stop President Obama’s deferred action […]
Back in July 2014, a panel of three D.C. Circuit judges on the rejected Sissel v. HHS, the big Origination Clause challenge to the Affordable Care Act. In the plaintiffs’ view, the ACA didn’t comply with the Origination Clause, which requires all bills for raising revenue to “originate” in the House of Representatives. As such, […]