While the media and Democrats spent the time leading up to the Independence Day holiday in paroxysms over Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, the final rulings of the Supreme Court’s term brought a breath of fresh air. Several major decisions weakened the administrative state in ways long sought by conservatives.
The fact that the three liberal justices dissented from each of these rulings, and offered a proverbial “parade of horribles” when doing so, speaks to how the left wants unelected bureaucrats to run the country — and our lives — for us. The actions hemming in the administrative state put power back where it belongs in our representative democracy — with the nation’s elected representatives and ultimately with the people.
The Rulings
The three rulings in the court’s final three days each take on an element of the bureaucratic power that agencies have arrogated to themselves in recent years. In SEC v. Jarkesy, the court held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s method of assessing penalties via administrative tribunals violated rights under the Seventh Amendment right to jury trials. The ruling gives defendants greater procedural rights to challenge penalties assessed by federal agencies in open court, rather than starting in administrative proceedings often biased in favor of the agency, with judicial review frequently rubber-stamping the agency’s actions.
In Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the court ruled that the statute of limitations for challenging agency actions begins when a potential plaintiff is harmed by that action, not when the action is finalized. As
