West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency
I only just became aware of this case before the Supreme Court. It isn’t directly related to Second Amendment issues, but if SCOTUS rules for West Virginia et al, the precedent could be useful.
Several groups—including state and local governments and environmental advocacy groups—objected to the issuance of the ACE Rule and its repeal of the Clean Power Plan. . Defending its rule, the EPA argued that getting rid of the Clean Power Plant, in favor of the ACE Rule, was statutorily required by the “clear and unambiguous” language of Section 7411 of the Clean Air Act. . However, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) disagreed with the EPA, giving its interpretation of Section 7411 no deference and holding that the EPA’s interpretation was not required by Congress. . As a result, the D.C. Circuit concluded that the EPA had not relied on its own judgment and expertise in implementing the ACE rule, and accordingly invalidated the rule and remanded to the EPA.
The case is about bureaucratic overreach, “legislation,” beyond the actual law passed by Congress, by unelected executive branch bureaucrats. If that sounds familiar, you must be familiar with the ATF’s nasty habit of redefining words in the law to regulate, or ban, bump-fire stocks and unfinished receivers, to magically turn semi-automatic firearms into machineguns, and so forth. It would be nice to have this precedent to cite to have the courts tell the ATF to stop it.
On the other hand, a win for the EPA would work against us.
On the gripping hand, we already have the executive branch officially declaring that they will ignore the Supreme Court. Laws don’t really matter in a lawless country.
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I have been watching this case as much as I did the 2nd amendment case, knowing that it had to do with an appointed agency making rules that had the effect of law.
That is the thing that has always bothered me with the BATFE. That is that the cops were writing the laws that they then were going to enforce. It just never seemed to sound logical. If the person arrested found a way to find a way out of a law, the cops could just change it, and go after him again.
With the Court make up and what they have done this session, it is hard to predict what will happen, but I have to say, I am reading stories that Trump’s biggest legacy will be the Supreme Court. And I have to agree with that assessment. I do think it will be important to take back the House or the Senate this November, although I hate the Republicans almost as much as the Democrats. Gridlock in D.C. is not a dirty word to me, but a desired outcome.
I am hoping it will have a profound effect on how unelected bureaucrats are allowed to behave. Not just the ATF and the EPA, but the NIH, the CDC and the corrupt FDA. All need to be cut in size or dismantled.