Former Attorneys General, Business Associations, and Former Department of Labor Leaders Support Family Farm’s Supreme Court Case

ARLINGTON, Va.—In its fall term, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Department of Labor’s agency court system. New Jersey family farm Sun Valley Orchards successfully challenged the in-house courts in a case brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ). More than one dozen legal briefs in support of Sun Valley’s right to defend itself in federal court have been filed.

“We appreciate the support of all the groups who have submitted briefs in support of Sun Valley Orchards, including trade associations, think tanks, and even former Department of Labor officials,” said IJ Senior Attorney Rob Johnson. “The array of groups lined up against the agency reflects the serious constitutional concerns that arise when an agency serves both as prosecutor and as judge in a single case.”

Notable amicus briefs supporting Sun Valley include:

Former U.S. Attorneys General Edwin Meese III and Michael Mukasey and Professors Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson, who write that history and tradition show that the case falls within the “heartland” of cases requiring an Article III judge.

Former Department of Labor officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations: an Acting Secretary of Labor, a Deputy Secretary of Labor, and a Counselor to the Secretary. Their brief draws on institutional experience to explain that “Congress did not silently make the Department the final judge.” They argue that requiring the agency to go before an Article III judge will “strengthen, rather than weaken, effective enforcement” and allow the Department to “retain its core enforcement tools.”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which writes that the Department of Labor went “beyond its constitutional authority” and exercised judicial power when it imposed “hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and back wages on a private citizen.” It emphasizes that the government cannot condition participation in a government program on giving up the right to an independent judge.

The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, which encourages the Court to consider that “adjudication by independent federal courts is especially vital” for small businesses. With less resources than large corporations, they “must make business decisions in reliance on the text Congress enacts.”

The Cato Institute, which notes that the Founders created an independent judiciary to eliminate royal oppression. The brief traces the history of work contracts to English common law and notes that a “work contract between an employer and employees cannot be untethered from its common law antecedents just because it involves foreign workers.”

Links to all briefs are available at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-966.html