Question

Administrative Law Judge Dread decides to take a day off after presiding over a high stakes case involving environmental law violations. On his day off, Al J Dread decides to play a round of golf at his country club. At the country club, he runs into representatives from one of the parties in the adjudication. The representative tells the Al J " Good morning sir, I just want to thank you for such a wonderful job you are doing with the case, and that we believe that opposing counsel's evidence regarding the leakage should not be admissible. That evidence is highly unreliable and suspect at best. The witnesses themselves are biased and untrustworthy." AL J Dread then says, " I understand your concerns, how about we play a round of golf to work out any differences you have. I'm sure we all want a settlement as soon as possible. " Has there been any violation of the APA here?

Answer 1

Yes there has been a violation of the APA (Administrative Procedures Act) here.

The APA governs how the US agencies can operate. The current case is related to the Environmental protection agency. The APA allows 2 types of adjudications- formal and informal. Formal adjudication involve a trial-like hearing with witness testimony, a written record, and a final decision.

It is clear from the description that this was a formal adjudication. This means that it must happen when both parties are present, heard and written records are taken. The process that AL J Dread is following hearing is more akin to informal adjudication. This is not allowed as the adjudication is supposed to be formal. Hence, this is a violation of the APA.