Liberal justices raise alarm about Supreme Court's weakening of federal agency power
Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared visibly perturbed as she complained last week about a Supreme Court ruling that curbed the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
WASHINGTON — Liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor appeared visibly perturbed as she complained last week about a Supreme Court ruling that curbed the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Taking the relatively rare step of reading a summary of her dissenting opinion from the bench in open court, she made her strong feelings known about what has been dubbed the "war on the administrative state."
"Those of us who cherish the rule of law have nothing to celebrate,” she said, emphasizing the word "nothing."
The ruling was one of three delivered in the final week of the court's term that cast blows against the powers of federal agencies. All were decided 6-3 on ideological lines, with the court's conservatives in the majority.
And in all three, the liberal justices did their utmost to draw attention to their broader concerns about the court’s chipping away at the powers of federal agencies to issue regulations in areas such as the environment, worker safety and consumer protection.
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