List of court cases relevant to the nondelegation doctrine
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- See also: Nondelegation doctrine
This table contains major state and federal court cases related to the nondelegation doctrine:
| Cases relevant to the nondelegation doctrine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Case | Court | Year | Impact |
| United States v. Hudson, 11 U.S. 32 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1812 | Held that the legislature must first make an act a crime, affix a punishment, and declare the court with jurisdiction before a person can be convicted of a crime in federal court. |
| Cargo of the Brig Aurora v. United States, 11 U.S. 382 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1813 | The court held that contingent legislation does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. |
| McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1819 | The court upheld the power of Congress to incorporate a bank as an exercise of legislative discretion in the exercise of constitutional powers. |
| Wayman v. Southard, 23 U.S. 1 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1825 | The first serious effort to define a nondelegation principle by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court held that Congress could not delegate strictly and exclusively legislative powers, but could give away other powers. The court noted the imprecise bounds of the discretion Congress could give other branches. |
| Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville R.R. Co. v. Comm’rs of Clinton County, 1 Ohio St. 77 | Ohio Supreme Court | 1852 | The court held that a bond law requiring voter approval before going into effect was not a violation of the nondelegation doctrine. The court ruled that the law conferred discretion on the voters as to whether or not to execute the law. |
| Morrill v. Jones, 106 U.S. 466 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1882 | The court struck down a regulation imposed by the secretary of the treasury saying it went beyond the law. |
| State ex rel. R.R. & Warehouse Comm’n v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul R.R. Co., 37 N.W. 782 | Minnesota Supreme Court | 1888 | The court ruled that since the state legislature had the power to regulate railroad charges, it could delegate to a commission the power of setting those charges. |
| Field v. Clark, 143 U.S. 649 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1892 | The court held that the Tariff Act of 1890 was a constitutional delegation of discretionary power to the president that did not violate the nondelegation doctrine. |
| United States v. Eaton, 144 U.S. 677 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1892 | The court held that violations of regulations made by the president or by heads of departments under authority granted by Congress do not automatically carry criminal penalties. |
| Buttfield v. Stranahan, 192 U.S. 470 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1904 | The court held that the power given to the secretary of the treasury to adopt uniform standards for tea importation did not violate the nondelegation doctrine. |
| United States v. Grimaud, 220 U.S. 506 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1911 | The court upheld Congressional delegation of authority to the Department of Agriculture to establish regulations with criminal penalties attached if the penalties were set by Congress. The court treated the authority to provide general regulations governing the use of forest reservations as non-legislative. |
| J.W. Hampton Jr. & Company v. United States, 276 U.S. 394 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1928 | The court articulated the intelligible principle test, which the court used to determine the constitutionality of congressional delegations of authority. Later courts adopted the test to analyze potential delegations. |
| Fed. Radio Comm’n v. Nelson Bros. Bond & Mortg. Co. (Station WIBO), 289 U.S. 266 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1933 | Precedent used by the court later in National Broadcasting Co. (1943). |
| Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan, 293 U.S. 388 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1935 | The court held that a law governing hot oil violated the nondelegation doctrine. This was the first time the court invalidated a statute on nondelegation grounds. |
| A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1935 | The court overturned a fair competition code system as a violation of the nondelegation doctrine. This case was the last time the court invalidated a statute on strictly nondelegation grounds as of January 4, 2019. |
| Carter v. Carter Coal Company, 298 U.S. 238 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1936 | The court held in part that the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935 violated the nondelegation doctrine because Congress delegated legislative power to a private industry group. |
| Sunshine Anthracite Coal Co. v. Adkins, 310 U.S. 381 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1940 | The court held that Congress did not violate the nondelegation doctrine in the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1937. |
| Opp Cotton Mills, Inc. v. Administrator, 312 U.S. 126 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1941 | The court held that the increasing complexity of society was such that Congress could not perform its functions if it had to find all the facts that support a defined legislative policy. |
| National Broadcasting Co., Inc. v. United States, 319 U.S. 190 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1943 | The court upheld broad delegation of power from Congress to the Federal Communications Commission grant broadcast licenses that serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. |
| Yakus v. United States, 312 U.S. 414 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1944 | The court held that the Emergency Price Act of 1942 did not violate the nondelegation doctrine because Congress sufficiently regulated the powers of the price administrator. |
| American Power & Light Co. v. SEC, 329 U.S. 90 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1946 | The court held that § 11(b)(2) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 did not violate the nondelegation doctrine because Congress clearly delineated a general policy, the agency to apply it, and the bounds of the delegated authority subject to judicial review. |
| Lichter v. United States, 334 U.S. 742 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1948 | The court upheld a delegation of authority to determine excessive profits. |
| Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1976 | The court defined an officer of the United States as one exercising significant authority. |
| Askew v. Cross Key Waterways, 372 So. 2d 913 | Florida Supreme Court | 1978 | The court threw out a broad delegation of authority citing article II, section 3 of the Florida Constitution. |
| Indus. Union Dept. v. Amer. Petroleum Inst., 448 U.S. 607 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1980 | Justice William Rehnquist wrote a concurring opinion arguing that the delegation of authority in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 violated the nondelegation doctrine. |
| People v. Wright, 639 P.2d 267 | California Supreme Court | 1982 | The court upheld a grant of power to the Judicial Council to set sentencing rules. |
| INS. v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1983 | The court held that legislative veto provisions were unconstitutional. |
| Mistretta v. United States, 488 U.S. 361 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1989 | The court applied the intelligible principle test and held that the guidelines in the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 were sufficient to keep the Sentencing Commission from violating the nondelegation doctrine. |
| Skinner v. Mid-America Pipeline Co., 490 U.S. 212 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1989 | The court unanimously reversed a district court ruling that held a congressional delegation of taxing power was unconstitutional. |
| Touby v. United States, 500 U.S. 160 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1991 | The court applied the intelligible principle test to hold that § 201(h) of the Controlled Substances Act did not delegate legislative power to the attorney general unconstitutionally. Held that regulations with criminal sanctions might require more specific congressional guidance. |
| Freytag v. Commissioner, 501 U.S. 868 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1991 | The court upheld the structure of the United States Tax Court. |
| B.H. v. State, 645 So. 2d 987 | Florida Supreme Court | 1994 | The court overturned a law allowing a department to define levels of restrictiveness for detention facilities. It held that such a delegation of authority involved matters of crime and required greater scrutiny. |
| United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1995 | The court held that the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 exceeded Congress' power under the commerce clause. |
| Department of the Interior v. South Dakota, 519 U.S. 919 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1996 | The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a ruling by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that held that part of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 violated the nondelegation doctrine. |
| Loving v. United States, 517 U.S. 748 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1996 | The court rejected a nondelegation challenge in the context of a death penalty case. |
| Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 | U.S. Supreme Court | 1998 | The court rejected the structure of the Line Item Veto Act of 1996. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in a concurring opinion that such sessions of congressional power violate separation of powers principles even when Congress gives up legislative power voluntarily. |
| Avatar Development Corp. v. State, 723 So. 2d 199 | Florida Supreme Court | 1998 | The court permitted delegation because of technical considerations. |
| Am. Trucking Ass’ns v. EPA, 175 F.3d 1027 | D.C. Circuit | 1999 | The court found that the construction of the Clean Air Act used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power |
| Am. Trucking Ass’ns v. EPA, 195 F.3d 4 | D.C. Circuit | 1999 | The court ruled that the EPA has the authority to extract an intelligible principle from a statute and attempt to apply it before the court can rule whether it violates the nondelegation doctrine. |
| Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc., 531 U.S. 457 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2001 | A unanimous court ruled that the Constitution vests all its legislative powers in Congress and permits no delegation of those powers, but sustained the sections 108 and 109 of the Clean Air Act. |
| C & S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. v. City of Westfield | Massachusetts Supreme Court | 2002 | The court rejected a nondelegation challenge that was part of a property tax dispute. |
| In re Initiative Petition No. 366, 46 P.3d 123 | Oklahoma Supreme Court | 2002 | The court held that provisions within a potential ballot initiative designating English as the state's official language would violate the Oklahoma Constitution's nondelegation doctrine. |
| Bush v. Schiavo, 885 So. 2d 321 | Florida Supreme Court | 2004 | The court ruled that the law passed to address Theresa Schiavo and others in her position violated the state's nondelegation doctrine. |
| National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2005 | The court ruled that Chevron deference applies even when courts have interpreted a questioned provision differently in the past. |
| Imhotep-Nguzo Saba Charter School v. Department of Education | Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal | 2007 | The court upheld the authority of local school boards to deny applications for charter schools for good cause. |
| Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2007 | The court ruled that the EPA could not decline to regulate CO2 emissions as pollution. |
| United States v. Hinckley, 550 F.3d. 926 | Tenth Circuit | 2008 | Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote a concurring opinion raising nondelegation concerns related to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). |
| United States v. Fuller, 627 F.3d. 499 | Second Circuit | 2010 | Judge Reena Raggi raised nondelegation concerns related to SORNA in a concurring opinion. |
| National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2012 | The court ruled that the Medicaid provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 were impermissibly coercive even though the court did not draw a precise line between persuasion and coercion. |
| Appeal of Erica Blizzard (New Hampshire Department of Safety) | New Hampshire Supreme Court | 2012 | The court upheld a law governing boat operation privileges that faced a nondelegation challenge. |
| Reynolds v. United States, 565 U.S. 432 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2012 | Justice Antonin Scalia raised nondelegation concerns about SORNA in a dissenting opinion. |
| United States v. Parks, 698 F.3d. 1 | First Circuit | 2012 | The court ruled that SORNA didn't violate nondelegation doctrine because Congress only delegated to the attorney general the judgment whether the benefit of registering pre-SORNA offenders would be offset by administrative problems. |
| Carter v. Welles-Bowen Realty, Inc., 736 F.3d 722 | Sixth Circuit | 2013 | The court held that greater congressional specificity may be required in criminal contexts. |
| Southern Alliance for Clean Energy v. Graham, 113 So. 3d 742, 745 | Florida Supreme Court | 2013 | The court ruled that a law giving the Florida Public Service Commission the authority to establish alternative cost recovery mechanisms related to nuclear power plant planning and construction did not violate the nondelegation doctrine. |
| City of Arlington v. FCC 569 U.S. 290 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2013 | The court ruled that Chevron deference applied to a question over agency jurisdiction. The majority opinion rejected the distinction between jurisdictional and nonjurisdictional interpretations of law. |
| Dep't of Transp. v. Ass'n of Am. Railroads, 575 U.S. __ | U.S. Supreme Court | 2015 | The court held that Amtrak was a governmental entity for the purposes of determining whether Congress gave legislative power to a private body. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion attacking the intelligible principle test. |
| United States v. Nichols, 784 F.3d 666 | Tenth Circuit | 2015 | Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote an opinion emphasizing the need to separate lawmaking and law enforcement functions in the context of criminal law. |
| United States v. Gundy, 804 F.3d. 140 | Second Circuit | 2015 | The court ruled that Gundy's nondelegation claim was foreclosed by 2010 precedent. |
| United States Telecom Ass’n v. FCC, 855 F.3d 381 | D.C. Circuit | 2017 | Judge Brett Kavanaugh dissented from a denial of rehearing en banc and articulated the major rules doctrine, which says Congress must explicitly delegate authority for agencies to make major rules. |
| Lucia v. SEC, 585 U.S. __ | U.S. Supreme Court | 2018 | The court enforced a vague standard to define officers of the United States to include administrative law judges. |
| Ortiz v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2165 | U.S. Supreme Court | 2018 | Justice Samuel Alito in dissent argued that the Vesting Clauses impose strict limits on the kinds of institutions that Congress can vest with legislative, executive, and judicial power. |
| Gundy v. United States | U.S. Supreme Court | 2019 | The court ruled that the U.S. attorney general's authority to issue regulations under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) did not violate the nondelegation doctrine. |
| West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency | U.S. Supreme Court | 2022 | The Supreme Court formally applied the major questions doctrine for the first time to limit a broad congressional delegation of authority to the EPA. |
See also
Footnotes
