West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey is applauding another U.S. Supreme Court ruling Monday that plaintiffs may bring a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act within six years of when they are first injured by final agency action, even if the agency first took the action more than six years ago.
The Attorney General led a multistate coalition last year in support of the petitioner, Corner Post. The North Dakota truck stop challenged a Federal Reserve 2011 regulation that set a cap on debit card “swipe fees,” which are paid by stores that accept card payments. At issue in the case was whether Corner Post was too late when it brought its legal challenge. The federal government argued that Corner Post should have challenged the regulation before 2017, even though Corner Post did not yet exist at that time.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the statute of limitations under the act does not begin “until the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.”
“This is another example of federal agencies trying to avoid accountability for their actions, this time using a hyper technical reading of a statute of limitations,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “Federal agencies should be held to account for their actions, even when a few years have passed from the time the rule was first issued.”
“We filed the brief in an effort to empower courts to stop the expansion of big government and protect the interests of the people we serve.”
The ruling comes after the court’s Friday decision in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, which overruled the doctrine known as Chevron deference—Attorney General Morrisey led a 27-state coalition that pushed for this. Attorney General Morrisey also led an 18-state coalition in SEC v. Jarkesy, a recent case holding that the Securities and Exchange Commission could not use administrative proceedings to impose fines for securities fraud.
Together, Corner Post, Loper Bright, and Jarkesy are expected to render agencies more accountable to the public, Congress and the states.
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