Judicial Review of Administrative Agencies: Does the Type of Agency Matter?

Law and Politics in Judicial Oversight of Federal Administrative Agencies

“…Since this coefficient is not readily interpretable, we provide under the column labeled "impact" the estimated increase or decrease in the probability of a supportive decision when the variable in question is present. This estimate assumes that a supportive decision otherwise has a 50-50 chance of being made.7 At first glance, the data in Table 2 appear to suggest that the effect of judicial preferences on the chances for agency success in the courts of appeals mirror the findings of Crowley (1987) and Sheehan (1990Sheehan ( , 1992 in the Supreme Court. Panels of liberal judges are much more likely to uphold liberal than conservative agency decisions and conservative judges favor conservative decisions.…”

“…But support for the notion that judicial attitudes rather than legal principles determined court review of agency decisions was enhanced when researchers analyzed whether the directionality of an agency's decision had an impact on the outcome of the case. Both Crowley (1987) and Sheehan (1990) found the ideological direction of the agency's decisions to have a significant influence on the level of deference granted by the Court to the agency. The researchers found that liberal and conservative judges both tended to shift their support for a particular agency based on the ideological direction of the agency's decision.…”

“…The legal model of court decision making in agency cases suggests that courts are primarily concerned with clear precedent and an agency's adherence to procedural rules rather than with the substantive policies produced by the agency (Crowley 1987;Sheehan 1990). Under a long string of precedents, legal principles like the substantial evidence doctrine and the arbitrary and capricious test suggest considerable judicial deference to agency decisions, especially in their application of statutes to complex factual situations.…”

INDEX TO Law & Policy

“…Administrative agencies, in general, have a long track record of legal success before the Supreme Court (Canon & Giles 1972;Crowley 1987;Handberg 1979;Sheehan 1990) and at the appellate level (Humphries & Songer 1999;Willison 1986). The agency's preeminent position is the product of its subjectmatter expertise, the resource advantage it enjoys in litigating the case, and in some instances, by regular court appearances.…”

“…The relationship between a judge's own policy preferences and his or her decision to support the agency's position has been well-documented at the level of the Supreme Court (Canon & Giles 1972;Crowley 1987;Segal & Spaeth 1993;Sheehan 1990Sheehan , 1992, and with regard to the appellate courts (Humphries & Songer 1999). According to the Humphries and Songer study, agencies are more successful before the courts of appeals "when the policy direction of their decisions is congruent with the policy preferences of the majority of the reviewing court" (1999: 211).…”