Administrative Law Flashcards
7 cards from real DE BAR practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Administrative Law flashcards as text
A Delaware board deliberates a disciplinary case over private email among a quorum of members to avoid a public meeting. This most likely violates:
Answer: The open meeting requirements of Delaware FOIA
A quorum conducting public business through serial private communications can constitute an unlawful closed meeting under Delaware FOIA.
An agency's final order imposes a sanction based partly on evidence never disclosed to the respondent. The order is vulnerable because:
Answer: Due process requires a decision based on the record the parties could confront
Basing an adjudication on undisclosed extra-record evidence denies the respondent a fair opportunity to respond.
Which statement about hearsay in administrative hearings is most accurate?
Answer: Hearsay is generally admissible but may need corroboration to alone support a finding
Administrative tribunals may admit hearsay, though many jurisdictions limit findings resting solely on uncorroborated hearsay.
A rule is challenged as exceeding the agency's statutory authority. This is an attack on the rule's:
Answer: Ultra vires character, i.e., action beyond delegated power
An agency rule that goes beyond the power the legislature delegated is ultra vires and invalid.
During the comment period, an agency receives significant criticism, then adopts a final rule fundamentally different from the proposal with no new notice. The best challenge is:
Answer: The final rule is not a logical outgrowth of the proposed rule
A final rule must be a logical outgrowth of the proposal so that interested parties had fair notice to comment.
A statute authorizes attorney's fees against a Delaware public body that violates FOIA. This remedy primarily serves to:
Answer: Encourage citizen enforcement of open government laws
Fee-shifting incentivizes citizens to enforce transparency requirements they could not otherwise afford to litigate.
An agency denies a permit, and the applicant claims the agency ignored an important aspect of the problem. Under arbitrary-and-capricious review, the court asks whether the agency:
Answer: Examined the relevant data and articulated a rational connection between facts found and the choice made
State Farm review requires reasoned decision-making, not that the court agree with the agency's ultimate choice.