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Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024)

Full notes and cites: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/078-loper-bright-enterprises-v-raimondo

Official text (slip opinion, Supreme Court of the United States): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/22-451_7m58.pdf

Full text of the opinions, AI-narrated (Kokoro-82M, voice af_heart). Original introduction; opinion text is public domain. Not legal advice.

Federal law allows the National Marine Fisheries Service to require herring boats in the Atlantic to carry federal observers on board. A 2020 rule went further and required the boat owners to pay for the observers, at up to about seven hundred dollars a day. Family fishing companies in New Jersey and Rhode Island sued, arguing the statute gave the agency no such power. The lower courts deferred to the agency under Chevron.

Chief Justice Roberts, for a six-justice majority, overruled Chevron. The Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, and courts may not defer to an agency's reading simply because a statute is ambiguous. Prior cases decided under Chevron remain good law under statutory stare decisis.

Justices Thomas and Gorsuch concurred, Gorsuch with a long history of precedent and when it should yield. Justice Kagan, joined by Justice Sotomayor, and by Justice Jackson in the companion case, dissented, warning that courts would now make policy decisions belonging to experts. Listen to this one right after Chevron, number three in this series.

Citations: reporter citations were shortened or left out of the audio; every citation is listed on the website.

Cases named aloud

- United States v. Dickson, 15 Pet. 141 (1841) at 162 (Story, J.) [as printed: United States v. Dickson, 15 Pet. 141, 162 (1841) (Story, J.); Concurrence (Justice Gorsuch)] (episode link pending)

- Decatur v. Paulding, 14 Pet. 497 (1840) at 515 [as printed: Decatur v. Paulding, 14 Pet. 497, 515 (1840); Opinion of the Court (Chief Justice Roberts)] (episode link pending)

- Edwards’ Lessee v. Darby, 12 Wheat. 206 (1827) at 210 [as printed: Edwards’ Lessee v. Darby, 12 Wheat. 206, 210 (1827); Dissent (Justice Kagan)] (episode link pending)

- National Lead Co. v. United States, 252 U.S. 140 (1920) at 145–146 [as printed: National Lead Co. v. United States, 252 U. S. 140, 145–146 (1920); Opinion of the Court (Chief Justice Roberts)] (episode link pending)

- NLRB v. Noel Canning, 573 U.S. 513 (2014) at 525 (first quoting McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 401 (1819); then quoting Marbury, 1 Cranch, at 177) [as printed: NLRB v. Noel Canning, 573 U. S. 513, 525 (2014) (first quoting McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 401 (1819); then quoting Marbury, 1 Cranch, at 177); Opinion of the Court (Chief Justice Roberts)] episode

- United States v. Moore, 95 U.S. 760 (1878) at 763 [as printed: United States v. Moore, 95 U. S. 760, 763 (1878); Opinion of the Court (Chief Justice Roberts)] (episode link pending)

(+76 more named aloud; see the website)

Full list of 495 citations not read aloud: https://opinion-of-the-court.pages.dev/ep/078-loper-bright-enterprises-v-raimondo