Call for Symposium Submissions
The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform [JLR] is accepting submissions for our annual Symposium Issue titled “The Future of Agency Independence.” Manuscripts can be submitted to our Scholastica https://umichigan-journal-of-law-reform.scholasticahq.com/ or directly to our email at jlr.articles@gmail.com.
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In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has increasingly embraced the unitary executive theory, or the theory that espouses the President’s authority to act unilaterally in a number of areas. A salient target of reform by the Court has been the so-called ‘fourth branch’ of government—the federal agencies. Historically independent, the constitutional future of this independence is very much in doubt. Following the Supreme Court rulings in Loper-Bright Enterprises and Jarkesy, overturning long-standing precedent, the status of federal agencies is perhaps more at question than ever. With the 90th anniversary of Humphrey’s Executor around the corner in 2025, the future of the fourth branch of executive agencies has never been more uncertain.
Also buffeted by the Court’s recent jurisprudence has been almost every other aspect of federal agencies that for decades have been taken as granted. From the structure and constitutionality of the nearly 2,000 Administrative Law Judges that carry out the lion’s share of agency enforcement, to their reliance on subject matter experts, agencies are braced for momentous change to come down at any moment. When, how, and to what extent the Supreme Court will continue to effect this change remains to be seen.
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The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform is one of the country’s foremost academic journals dedicated to promoting legal reform. Established in 1968, the Journal finds its roots in a desire to propose constructive, well-reasoned reforms in all areas of the law. Read more about us at https://mjlr.org/.