Liberty University Law Review Publishes Special Loper Bright Symposium Issue

Last fall, Liberty University School of Law hosted a special symposium entitled “Loper Bright: A New Era of Administrative Law.”  As we previously reported, the event included several panel discussions about the impact of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, as well as a special keynote address by Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Academic investigation of those impacts is vital for appreciating the ways in which Loper Bright will influence the direction of federal administrative law, as well as the executive branch’s reaction in setting its regulatory agenda and Congress’s possible re-engagement with its vested legislative authority and design of delegations to regulatory agencies.

Liberty University Law Review has now published its special issue containing the essays previewed during that symposium.  These six articles run the gamut addressing issues like the role of the conservative legal movement in overturning Chevron deference, the relevance of agency expertise under the new Loper Bright standard, and how Loper Bright has impacted the federal government’s litigation strategy.

My colleague, Michael Pepson, and I published one of these six articles: “A New Age Dawns on First Street: The Supreme Court’s Use of Loper Bright During the October 2024 Term.”  Our piece explores how the Court operationalized Loper Bright in the near-term following the overruling of Chevron deference, especially in decisions emphasizing the importance of independent, de novo review, as well as the robust use of traditional canons of statutory interpretation to reach the original public meaning of statutes.  We also discuss the implications of Loper Bright for so-called “Skidmore deference,” the major-questions doctrine, and nondelegation.  Finally, we identify what unresolved questions—including statutory stare decisis and the future of other deference doctrines—still need to be addressed.

Ryan P. Mulvey is Senior Policy Counsel at Americans for Prosperity Foundation.  In his role at Cause of Action Institute, Ryan has served as lead counsel on Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo since the initiation of the case.