Admin Law Critical to Understanding Modern American Law

The rise of administrative law has shaped much of the modern American legal culture. Environmental law, with its dependence on executive policies for such agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency, is just one of the critical subject areas dominated by administrative law. A pending case, Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, asks whether the Bush administrations opposition to programs designed to limit greenhouse gases is sufficient for the EPA to decline to enforce aspects of the Clean Air Act dealing with automobile emissions. A review of the case details the issues and also offers a model of how to brief a case. If the Court finds that the EPA has the authority to decline to enforce the Clean Air Act, it will probably continue the legal tradition of deference to agency decisions. This tradition is sometimes known as Chevron deference, from a famous admin and environmental law case, Chevron USA Inc. v. National Resources Defense Council. The Chevron case is essential to understanding modern American law and the pending case illustrates the continuing impact of Chevron.

University Cultural Festival Disrupted

News reports indicate that a group of men interrupted a performance of
Wusta Bila Wasatiya (the Middle Path), a play exploring the middle path between hedonism and fundamentalism, at Al Yanamah College in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The men attacked students performing the play as well as audience members. Several students were injured before police were able to stop the assaults. The men reportedly attempted to enter the women's section, but found it locked. The college started as a men's school, but recently added a women's program.
While the motives of the assailants are unknown, it is speculated that they object to tolerance. This incident should be of great interest to everyone, but especially to university students who are often on the leading edge of positive social change. Freedom of expression is often most appreciated in the academic environment, so an assault on free speech at a college is especially ominous.
The international community needs to respond to this attack and to monitor news to identify similar disruptions in the area to be sure international human rights law is observed. International law protection of freedom of speech is summarized in this human rights report.

Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

Initiatives sound like forward-thinking, productive plans, but the Western Hemisphere Travel initiative (WHTI) is a different type of initiative. It's more of a disincentive than an intiative, and it is now slated to go into effect at the end of January 2007.

WHTI requires passports for travel in the western hemishpere including trips by U.S. citizens to Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Formerly, alternative proof of identity was permitted. The new requirement comes at a time when U.S. passport renewals can take 8 or more weeks. In fact, while expedited processing (at an extra cost) was suggested for those needing their renewals in under 6 weeks, the current government recommendation is that those needing the renewal in 8 weeks or less should purchase the expedited service. These significant delays for passport renewals will curtail necessary visits of U.S. citizens to neighboring countries. Costs have steadily increased as well - usually increased costs bring promises of improved service, but longer delays can hardly be the paid-for improvements. New passports now run $97 not including costs for pictures and birth certificates (and the day off work as more application sites limit hours and require appointments). Want that in under 8 weeks? That's an extra $60 plus overnight mail costs. And renewals are pricey, too. If you want to vacation in Canada with your family, your costs will multiple so that a family of 4 who wanted to travel to Canada in the summer and waited until school ended so they could get passports without taking the kids out of school for the day could spend over 2(97 + 60) for the parents and 2(84 + 60) for the children, or a total of more than $540 (plus the overnight mail fees).

When my passport needs renewal, I will be unable to visit my son in college in Montreal during this time period. My husband and I will plan to renew our passports at different times so that one of us is available in case of emergency as well as to pick him up from school for breaks. Similarly, when he needs to renew his passport, he will be unable to come home for school breaks if they fall during this period. Luckily, his passport should last beyond graduation. For us, the new law requires some planning and perhaps some missed school breaks, but for others the impact is greater.

Ontario alone has projected losses to their economy and to the U.S. economy from tourism reductions. 106,000 fewer trips are excpected in 2007 for Ontario residents traveling to the U.S. with that increasing dramatically during the 2008 second stage of the plan. Visits by U.S. citizens to Ontario are expected to drop by 290,000 visits in the first phase of the program. AILA's copy of the report is available here.

Disrupted families, decreased tourism, economic losses - these are nnot hallmarks of a true initiative. We take the initiative when we plan with our neighbors for mutual security and reasonable documentation. We fail ourselves and our neighbors with hastily implemented bureaucratic programs optimistically labelled as initatives.

Secure borders are widely appreciated, but our spending on border services has never been sufficient for the task. Until there is a fiscal commitment to border service - and to passport processing - no border documentation plan should be considered an initiative - just a hindrance to legitimate travel.