Episode Details

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan to discuss Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards, an important case headed to the Supreme Court.

Sun Valley Orchards is a family farm that employs domestic workers as well as foreign workers through the H-2A visa program. After the Department of Labor accused the farm of violating requirements governing its workers, the agency pursued the case through its own administrative adjudication process and ultimately imposed roughly half a million dollars in penalties.

But should an executive agency be able to adjudicate a case involving private rights and impose substantial monetary penalties—or does the Constitution require that kind of dispute to be heard by an independent Article III court?

Russ discusses NCLA's amicus brief, filed with the Buckeye Institute and Americans for Prosperity Foundation, arguing that judicial power belongs exclusively to the judicial branch. The conversation also explores the distinction between so-called "public" and "private" rights, the Supreme Court's decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, and why the Court may finally need to confront its longstanding Atlas Roofing precedent.

With Sun Valley Orchards set to be argued before the Supreme Court, the case could provide important answers about the constitutional limits of administrative adjudication.