Administrative Law (7010): Syllabus
[last revised: May 31, 2007]
Prof. Edmundson
Fall 2007
MW 1:15-2:30
Room 230
Discussion list e-mail: law7010wae.200708@gsulaw2.gsu.edu
Text: Cass, Diver & Beermann, Administrative Law (5th ed.)
Recommended: Fox, Understanding Administrative Law
The Goals of this Course
Some day someone may give you a knowing wink and say, “Legislatures and courts don’t make law, administrative agencies do.” This view is an exaggeration, but just barely. Thus, you might suppose, knowing administrative law must be like owning a sophisticated breed of attack dog, like a rottweiler. But you may find that the law school course in Administrative Law looks more like a platypus, made up of unrelated body parts that seem to belong to other animals.
Our course will deal with a number of issues, such as separation of powers and due process, that would be at home in a course on Constitutional Law. It will also deal with some jurisdictional doctrines that fit well into a course on Federal Courts. It will deal in depth with a procedural statute, the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), but in substantive settings formed by other statutes, such as the Clean Air Act, which we will look at only glancingly, to provide a context.
This diversity may seem confusing but, in a nutshell, Administrative Law is the law governing the creation of, powers of, and limitations upon administrative agencies of all sorts. It is not the substantive law made by agencies or for agencies, such as labor law, environmental law, etc.
Because of the breadth of our subject, the focus is on federal law and federal constitutional constraints on federal and state agencies –not on state agencies nor, for that matter, any particular federal agency. Our goal will be to understand and be able to make use of the legal concepts that define what has been called “the bureaucratic state.”
The Grading System Explained
Your final grade will be based largely upon a final examination. The only other factor that may influence your final grade is class participation. The final will be an open-book, open-notebook, blind-graded, essay-style examination. It will cover only the material included in this syllabus. It will test your ability to identify and analyze legal issues in one or more detailed hypothetical situations. It is not intended to test your ability merely to memorize by rote or to philosophize.
In recent years, the average grade in the several sections of Administrative Law has been in the low-80s. The mean grade in this course will be in this vicinity.
Assignments
Date
Topic
Reading
8/20
Introduction
1-15
8/22
“Nondelegation” Doctrine
15-38
8/27
Legislative “Veto”
38-55
8/29
The “Line Item” Veto
55-65
9/3
Labor Day – No class meeting
9/5
Appointment and Removal I
65-77
9/10
Appointment and Removal II
78-93
9/12
Executive Supervision
93-108
9/17
Judicial Review and Overton Park
109-24
9/19
Chevron and Reading Statutes
124-38
9/24
Reading Chevron
138-59; 805-12
9/26
Reviewing Factfinding and Policy
159-74
10/1
The Benzene and the Airbags Cases
197-203
10/3
Reviewability and Preclusion
205-32
10/8
Reviewability and Discretion I
232-54
10/10
Reviewability and Discretion II
264-67, 649-58
10/15
Standing to Sue
267-300
10/17
The Timing of Judicial Review
303-25
10/22
Policymaking by Rule
331-51
10/24
Policymaking by Order
351-68
10/29
Policymaking by “the Book”; Fair Notice
368-88
10/31
Participation in Rulemaking
388-409
11/5
Vermont Yankee, Participation and Politics
421-35
11/7
§553 Exemptions
435-55
11/12
Agency Adjudication
503-14
11/14
Protectable Interests
514-41
11/19
What Process Is Due
548-67
11/21
Private Right of Action
665-84
11/26
Liability of Agencies and Officials
703-41
11/27
TBA
Departures from this schedule can be expected to occur. Please be aware that each assignment includes the APA sections it references. The text of the APA appears as an appendix to the casebook.
Attendance policy
Roll will be taken at each class meeting. Two or more unexcused absences will be grounds for the assignment of a failing grade. Please also note that class nonparticipation may influence your final grade. Because absences due to illness or conflicting family, legal, military or business duties are routinely excused, you are encouraged NOT to telephone or e-mail me to ask that such an absence be excused.
Office Hours
My office hours vary. My office is 458 ULB. My office telephone number is 404 651 2136 (until July 1). All e-mail pertaining to the course’s subject matter and procedures should be addressed to the discussion list:
law7010wae.200708@gsulaw2.gsu.edu
E-mail Discussion List
There is an e-mail discussion list for this course (see previous note). You are encouraged to take advantage of it to post questions and suggest answers.