Forum
U.S. Supreme Court
Case Status
Decided
Docket Number
Term
2017 Term
Oral Argument Date
April 23, 2018
Lower Court Opinion
Questions Presented
Whether administrative law judges of the Securities and Exchange Commission are Officers of the United States within the meaning of the Appointments Clause.
Case Updates
Supreme Court holds SEC violated Constitution in appointing administrative law judges
June 21, 2018
The Supreme Court issued a favorable 6-3 decision holding that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution in naming administrative law judges (ALJs) to decide enforcement proceedings before the SEC.
The decision holds that the SEC’s ALJs are “officers” of the United States subject to the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, because ALJs have an ongoing position in the government that exercises significant governmental authority. Because they are officers, the SEC’s ALJs must be appointed by the head of their department (the Chairman of the SEC).
U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to hold that SEC administrative law judges are “officers” who must be appointed in accordance with the Appointments Clause
February 28, 2018
Click here to view the Chamber’s amicus brief.
Andrew J. Pincus and Karen W. Lin of Mayer Brown LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Cert. petition granted
January 12, 2018
U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to review constitutionality of appointment of administrative law judges
August 25, 2017
The U.S. Chamber urges the Supreme Court to review whether the SEC's method of appointing administrative law judges (“ALJs”) violates the Constitution's Appointments Clause. The Tenth Circuit held that SEC ALJs are “inferior officers” who were not constitutionally appointed, while the D.C. Circuit held that SEC ALJs are employees not subject to the Appointments Clause.
The Chamber’s amicus brief argued that SEC ALJs qualify as “inferior officers” because they exercise significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States.
Andrew J. Pincus and Karen W. Lin of Mayer Brown LLP served as co-counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center.
Case Documents
- Cert. Petition -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Cato Institute Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Mark Cuban Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Pacific Legal Foundation Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Sabino Amicus Brief Opposing Cert. -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- SEC Reply Brief for Petitioner -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Brief for Petitioners -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Brief for Respondent Supporting Petitioners -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Cato Institute Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Anthony Michael Sabino Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Show, Inc. Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Federal Administrative Law Judges Conference Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Pacific Legal Foundation Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Forum of U.S. Administrative Law Judges Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Washington Legal Foundation Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Urska Velikonja and Joseph A. Grundfest Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- U.S. Chamber Amicus Brief (merits) -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Administrative Law Scholors Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- New Civil Liberties Alliance Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Scholors of Corpus Linguistics Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Prof. Jennifer L. Mascott Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- RD Legal Capital, LLC and Roni Dersovitz Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- J.S. Oliver Capital Management, L.P. and Ian O. Mausner Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Equity Dealers of America Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Wing F. Chau Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- States of Utah, et al. Amicus Brief -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf
- Opinion -- Lucia v. SEC (U.S. Supreme Court).pdf