Michael Herz

• J.D.
• Yeshiva University

It is axiomatic that in a democratic society the law must be broadly accessible. Administrative agencies produce a plethora of materials imposing legal obligations on commercial or individual actors in the private sector. Other materials bind the agencies themselves in ways that affect the rights or interests of private parties. Still other materia...

The Supreme Court’s decision in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. continues to obsess academics and courts alike. Despite all the attention, however, the “Chevron revolution” never quite happens. This decision, though seen as transformatively important, is honored in the breach, in constant danger of being abandoned, an...

The Administrative Conference of the United States ("ACUS") both shapes and reflects the intellectual, policy, and practical concerns of the field of administrative law. Its recommendations are therefore a useful lens' through which to view that field. Also, because of an unfortunate hiatus, ACUS has gotten underway not once but twice. Those two be...

The contributors to this volume consider whether it is possible to establish carefully tailored hate speech policies that are cognizant of the varying traditions, histories, and values of different countries. Throughout, there is a strong comparative emphasis, with examples (and authors) drawn from around the world. All the authors explore whether...

Writers on legal interpretation have almost all either addressed general principles or focused on differences in the interpretation of different sorts of texts; rarely have they distinguished among different sorts of interpreters. Thus, most writing on statutory interpretation approaches the problem generally, but the writer almost always has judge...

This brief article describes and comments on the way in which FOIA has become more peripheral than it once was and than it should be. After describing the features that make FOIA a potent mechanism for disclosure and those that limit its effectiveness, the article considers FOIA’s fundamental limitation: its failure to impose affirmative responsibi...

As the modern American environmental law approaches its 40th anniversary, it is characterized by a handful of fundamental debates. They concern not so much whether government regulation to protect the environment is appropriate; on that, there is general consensus (with the obvious exception of global climate change). But what level, and what branc...

The Rehnquist Court is generally seen as overconfident, arrogant, undeferential, and too fond of its own power. Yet in the area of administrative law, the Court frequently fails to live up to this billing. While not quite the Cowardly Lion, all ferocity on the outside and timidity on the inside, it is far from being the King of the Beasts. This art...

Since the National Environmental Policy Act was signed into law in 1970, the world has been transformed by the personal computer, the digital revolution, and the World Wide Web, yet NEPA's implementation remains stuck in the world of 1970. Environmental Impact Statements are still based on the model of the Sears catalog - a hard copy of a massive p...

In the Supreme Court, the halls of Congress, and elsewhere, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General are often addressed as "General," as if they were officers in the Army. This Essay speculates about the explanation for this peculiar practice and argues that it should be abandoned. In part, this usage should be abandoned because it is flatly...

This paper examines the politics behind the (legislatively specified) division of litigation authority between the Justice Department and agency lawyers within the executive branch. In particular, why is it that lawyers within the executive branch care a great deal about this question while Congress cares very little about the division lof litigati...

th

I The legal proceedings following the 2000 election had their moments of humor. The oral argument in Bush v. Gore 1 may have produced the most guffaws, as Joseph Klock struggled to name the Justices of the Supreme Court, or even to limit himself to those currently living. But if one finds humor in the absurd, the comic highpoint came 34 hours later...