Below are two announcements from Kent Barnett concerning the American Association of Law Schools Administrative Law Section’s programming for the AALS 2021 Annual Meeting: (1) the dates and times for our two programs, and (2) a request for nominations for our Emerging Scholar Award.  

Section Programming

Section Meeting: 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. EST, Saturday, January 9

The Future—and Past—of the Nondelegation Doctrine

Five current Supreme Court Justices have now signaled their willingness to reconsider the nondelegation doctrine. The doctrine currently prohibits Congress from delegating quasi-legislative power to agencies without an “intelligible principle,” a standard that Congress has almost always satisfied. Some justices and scholars are advocating for a standard with arguably more bite, most likely one that requires Congress to decide “important subjects” or “major questions” but allows agencies to “fill up the details.” The panelists will consider the historical provenance of the nondelegation doctrine, its constitutional foundation and development, the effects of any doctrinal shift on both regulated and benefited parties, and how debates over nondelegation reflect deeper concerns about administrative action. Co-sponsored with the Section on Constitutional Law.

Kati Kovacs, Moderator, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School

Gillian Metzger, Harlan Fiske Stone Professor of Constitutional Law, Columbia Law School

Julian Mortenson, James G. Phillipp Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School

Ilan Wurman, Associate Professor of Law, Arizona State University, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

New Voices in Administrative Law and Legislation Program: 4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. EST, Saturday, January 9

(Details to follow)

The Section’s Executive Committee is pleased to announce the bestowal of an Emerging Scholar Award for the Administrative Law Section at the 2021 AALS Annual Meeting.

A section-award committee comprised of five members will select a substantial scholarly work—whether a law-review article, monograph, or chapter—published between September 1, 2019 to August 30, 2020 on an administrative law topic by early-career fulltime faculty members without tenure at the time of the work’s nomination. (Those with fellowships, visiting assistant professorships, or similar positions are not eligible.) Scholarly works on any administrative law topic are eligible, although the committee may favor works with greater general applicability.  

To nominate a work, please send an anonymized version to Kent Barnett at khbarn@uga.edu by September 25, 2020. The Committee will select a work in mid-December and present the award at the virtual Administrative Law Section Meeting at the AALS Annual Meeting on Saturday, January 9 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EST.