Do Judges Make Regulatory Policy?: An Empirical Investigation of Chevron

64 Pages Posted: 25 May 2007

See all articles by Thomas J. Miles

Thomas J. Miles

University of Chicago - Law School

Cass R. Sunstein

Harvard Law School; Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Date Written: May 2006

Abstract

In the last quarter-century, the Supreme Court has legitimated agency authority to interpret regulatory legislation, above all in Chevron U.S.A., Inc v Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc, the most-cited case in modern public law. Chevron recognizes that the resolution of statutory ambiguities often requires judgments of policy; its call for judicial deference to reasonable interpretations was widely expected to have eliminated the role of policy judgments in judicial review of agency interpretations of law. But this expectation has not been realized. On the Supreme Court, conservative justices vote to validate agency decisions less often than liberal justices. Moreover, the most conservative members of the Supreme Court show significantly increased validation of agency interpretations after President Bush succeeded President Clinton, and the least conservative members of the Court show significantly decreased validation rates in the same period. In a similar vein, the most conservative members of the Court are less likely to validate liberal agency interpretations than conservative ones and the least conservative members of the Court show the opposite pattern. Similar patterns can be found on federal appellate courts. In lower court decisions involving the EPA and the NLRB from 1990 to 2004, Republican appointees demonstrated a greater willingness to invalidate liberal agency decisions and those of Democratic administrations. These differences are greatly amplified when Republican appointees sit with two Republican appointees and when Democratic appointees sit with two Democratic appointees.

Keywords: Supreme Court, regulatory legislation, Chevron

JEL Classification: K20

Suggested Citation

Miles, Thomas J. and Sunstein, Cass R., Do Judges Make Regulatory Policy?: An Empirical Investigation of Chevron (May 2006). AEI-Brookings Joint Center Working Paper No. 06-15, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=988373 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.988373

Thomas J. Miles (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Law School ( email )

1111 E. 60th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

Cass R. Sunstein

Harvard Law School ( email )

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States
617-496-2291 (Phone)

Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) ( email )

79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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