States Move to Scrap Agency Deference: ALEC in Bloomberg Law
All of the state measures have language similar to model legislation by ALEC, mandating that courts scrap agency deference by reviewing agency interpretations on their own.
The ALEC model Judicial Deference Reform Act was highlighted in a recent Bloomberg Law story on the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision that ended Chevron deference.
“For years conservatives and libertarians have been pushing state courts to get rid of deference, and it’s created this movement across the country,” said University of Michigan Law Professor Christopher J. Walker. “The big question after Loper Bright,” he said, “is what state supreme courts and state legislators are going to do with this message from the US Supreme Court.”
Free-market groups, including the Goldwater Institute and the Pacific Legal Foundation, as well as conservative lawmakers sharing draft legislation through the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), have spurred the efforts in mostly conservative-leaning states.
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All of the state measures have language similar to model legislation by ALEC, mandating that courts scrap agency deference by reviewing agency interpretations on their own.
Texas state Representative Brian Harrison (R) wants his to be the eighth state to enact such a change. Harrison plans to reintroduce his deference-ending bill that didn’t make it to the floor last session.
“Anytime two parties walk into the courtroom I want Lady Liberty to be as blind as possible,” Harrison said. “And the courts sure as hell should not be able to do legally sanctioned cheating on behalf of the government.”