Administrative Law

Administrative agencies play an important role in determining legal rights and obligations. This course will study the constitutional and statutory structure of federal administrative agencies. With respect to constitutional structure, the course will cover topics such as the nondelegation doctrine, the Appointments Clause, the executive’s power to remove agency heads, the congressional powers to create, structure and supervise agencies, the unitary executive theory, permissible degrees of agency "independence," agency adjudicatory powers and Article III, and due process constraints on agency process. With respect to statutory structure, the course will explore the way in which the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and other sources of law regulate the authority of federal agencies to determine the rights and responsibilities of the public. The topics will include formality and informality in agency procedure, the choice between rulemaking and adjudication, the procedures for agency rulemaking, and judicial review of agency action.