Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Relentless v. U.S. Department of Commerce, asking the court to overturn Chevron and put an end to judicial deference to executive agencies’ interpretation of the law.

“The practice of courts relying on agencies to interpret the law has proven to be dysfunctional and inconsistent with our constitutional system. It is time for the Supreme Court to throw Chevron overboard,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute.

In Relentless v. U.S. Department of Commerce—a New Civil Liberties Alliance case—a group of fishermen are challenging whether the U.S. U.S. Department of Commerce can force commercial fishermen to pay the salaries of government-mandated monitors—something Congress did not authorize when it passed the law governing fishery management in federal waters. As it did in its brief in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo—a Cause of Action Institute case—The Buckeye Institute argues that Chevron deference has led to agency self-aggrandizement, legislative indifference, and judicial passivity. 

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UPDATE: On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court abandoned the Chevron doctrine, writing, “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 interpretation of the law simply because a statute is ambiguous; Chevron is overruled.”