June 28, 2024
RALEIGH – Today, the Supreme Court has made a landmark decision to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron decision, a move that restores the Constitution’s balance of power between the Executive branch, Congress, and the judiciary. The John Locke Foundation strongly supports this decision, recognizing it as a victory for constitutional governance and the rule of law.
Jessica Thompson, Director of Government Affairs for the John Locke Foundation, praised the ruling, stating, “Today’s Loper Bright decision strips unelected bureaucrats’ power to rewrite statutes and returns questions of constitutional and statutory interpretation to the judiciary, as the Framers of the Constitution intended. Silence or uncertainty about the meaning of a law is no longer a blank check for federal agencies to create or shape the law for their own aims. Instead, this decision makes clear that legislative power resides in Congress, not unaccountable agencies. This is a win for all Americans, democracy, and the Constitution.”
Jon Guze, Locke’s Senior Fellow in Legal Studies, said this decision will hopefully influence the North Carolina Supreme Court’s decisions in its pending deference cases. He stated, “In what should be considered a historically significant opinion, today’s Loper Bright decision will curtail the out-of-control regulatory state at the national level. We expect it to reverberate through the state courts, including here in North Carolina. The North Carolina Supreme Court is currently reviewing two important cases involving judicial deference and we are hopeful that the NC Supreme Court will take Justice Roberts’ analysis into consideration when it decides those consequential cases.”
The John Locke Foundation has long advocated for limited, constitutional government and the protection of individual liberties. This Supreme Court ruling aligns with our mission to ensure that power remains with the elected representatives of the people and not unelected officials.