WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of courts where agency employees serve as prosecutor, judge, and jury. The government petitioned for certiorari after a panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the agency’s in-house courts violated the Constitution and that charges against a family farm in New Jersey had to be brought in an independent federal court.

DOL first targeted Sun Valley Orchards for penalties in 2015, beginning a yearslong legal odyssey through the agency’s administrative courts. Sun Valley’s owners, Joe and Russell Marino, teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal lawsuit challenging DOL’s system of in-house courts in 2021.

“Small businesses targeted for fines have the right to defend themselves in a real court, with a real judge and jury, rather than an agency court where the only judge is an agency bureaucrat,” said IJ Senior Attorney Rob Johnson. “It’s fundamentally unfair to try a business in a court where everybody involved is employed by the same administrative agency.”

The Third Circuit’s earlier decision invalidating DOL’s in-house agency courts followed the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that challenged a similar administrative court system at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jarkesy v. SEC. In that case, the Supreme Court held that the SEC was required to press its case in a federal court and in front of a jury. The Marinos filed an amicus brief in support of George Jarkesy in that case.

“When you walk into an agency court, you know nobody is really going to listen to you, and you know you’re never going to get a fair trial,” said Joe. “After years defending our farm in agency courts, the Third Circuit’s decision upholding our right to a real judge was an immense relief. Now, we just have to convince the Supreme Court as well.”

Due in part to the protracted and expensive legal fight in the agency courts, as well as the looming threat of a half-million dollar penalty, the Marino family shut down their farm several years ago. The case continues, however, as the government continues to seek to enforce the fines.

“The Supreme Court will consider a right of enormous importance to everyone in America.” said IJ Senior Attorney Jared McClain. “When a federal agency wants to take your money as punishment, it must prove its case against you in a real court, not in agency courts where the government plays investigator, prosecutor, judge, and jury.”

Sun Valley is just one of many businesses targeted through DOL’s system of in-house agency courts. In 2024, DOL’s Wage and Hours Division collected $4.9 million in back wages and imposed $5.8 million in penalties on agricultural employers under the same statues at issue in Sun Valley’s case.

In addition to Sun Valley, IJ is representing a Kentucky farm asking for a preliminary injunction to prevent its agency court case from moving forward. IJ is also appealing a district court decision upholding agency adjudication in a lawsuit brought by a Maryland landscaping business in Washington, D.C. IJ is also representing an Oklahoma masonry business challenging the Department of Justice’s agency courts.