Administrative Law & Regulations Flashcards

Under Mathews v. Eldridge, which factor is NOT part of the test for determining what process is due?

Answer: The political popularity of the program being administered

Mathews balances the private interest, the risk of error and value of safeguards, and the government's interest.

In Goldberg v. Kelly, the Supreme Court held that before terminating welfare benefits, the state must provide:

Answer: A pre-termination evidentiary hearing

Goldberg required a pre-termination evidentiary hearing because welfare recipients depend on benefits for basic subsistence.

In Lucia v. SEC (2018), the Supreme Court held that SEC administrative law judges:

Answer: Are inferior officers who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause

Lucia held SEC ALJs are inferior officers, so their appointment by staff violated the Appointments Clause.

In SEC v. Jarkesy (2024), the Supreme Court held that when the SEC seeks civil penalties for securities fraud:

Answer: The Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial

Jarkesy held that civil penalties for common-law-like fraud claims are legal remedies triggering the Seventh Amendment jury right.

During a formal APA adjudication, an interested outside party privately contacts the deciding official about the merits. Under § 557(d), this is:

Answer: A prohibited ex parte communication that must be placed on the public record

Section 557(d) bans ex parte merits communications by interested outside persons and requires any such communications to be disclosed on the record.

Under APA § 556(d), as interpreted in Director, OWCP v. Greenwich Collieries, the 'burden of proof' rests on the proponent and means:

Answer: The burden of persuasion

Greenwich Collieries held that 'burden of proof' in § 556(d) means the burden of persuasion, invalidating the 'true doubt' rule.

Under the SEC v. Chenery Corp. doctrine, a court reviewing an agency's discretionary decision may uphold it only:

Answer: On the grounds the agency itself invoked when it acted

Chenery limits review to the agency's own contemporaneous reasoning, not post hoc rationalizations.