Cases: Legal Issues

by

Humanities

Administrative actions can sometimes pose a threat to the public interest. Accordingly, the Court is often called upon to interpret the legislation that not only gives citizens the standing to bring suits, but also to provide legal opinion on the sufficiency of these citizen lawsuits. This kind of interpreting power can be perceived as unyielding. Reflect on how the opinion of the Court in these matters may have an effect on administrative law and, if so, whether the Court’s ideology has some impact on the majority opinion.

Read one of the cases in Chapter 9 of the Harrington and Carter text (“Enforcement of Administrative Policy,” pp. 290–304). Identify the legal issue in the case you selected. Consider the majority opinion in the case. (Massachusetts v. EPA (2007).

Provide a summary of the case you selected (Massachusetts v.EPA (2007) and identify the legal issue in the case. Include the Bluebook citation for the case. Describe the majority opinion. Explain whether you agree or disagree with the majority opinion or the dissenting opinion and why. Use the resources to support your conclusion.

Note: Include an in-text Bluebook citation, if referencing cases, as well as a citation in the reference list.

Support your response using the Learning Resources and other scholarly resources.

READINGS

  • Harrington, C. B., & Carter, L. H. (2015). Administrative law & politics: Cases and comments (5th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
    • Chapter 7, “Elements of an Administrative Hearing”
    • Chapter 9, “Enforcement of Administrative Policy” (pp. 297–305)
    • Chapter 10, “Judicial Review” (pp. 320–321)
  • Harvard Law Review Association, et al. (Eds.). (2015). The Bluebook: A uniform system of citation(20th ed.). Cambridge, MA: Author.
    • Rule 10
  • Kerwin, C. M., & Furlong, S. R. (2010). Rulemaking: How government agencies write law and make policy (4th ed.). Washington, DC: CQ Press.
    • Chapter 6, “Oversight of Rulemaking” (pp. 247–268)
  • Pyle, C. (1999). How to brief a case. Retrieved from http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/research/brief.html