CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS CONDEMN SUPREME COURT’S OVERTURNING OF CHEVRON DOCTRINE, WARNING OF AN EXPANSION OF JUDICIAL POWER THAT ENDANGERS COMMUNITY PROTECTIONS
July 1, 2024 – In a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court last week issued a decision that overturns the Chevron doctrine, a 40-year precedent that required courts to give deference to reasonable federal agency interpretations of the statutes they are charged with administering in promulgating regulations based on their reasonable interpretations of federal statutes within their areas of expertise.
The ruling, which combined Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, is a rejection of the historical deference given to agency expertise and represents judicial overreach—vastly expanding the power of the courts to invalidate federal regulations—including regulations essential to protecting our environment, ensuring safe working conditions, providing housing free from discrimination, protecting public health and safety, implementing workplace protections, holding corporate interests accountable, and remedying past harms. There is a risk that opponents of our efforts to build a more just and inclusive society will try to use this decision as ammunition in their attempts to narrow agencies’ interpretations of our legacy civil rights laws and to undermine the effectiveness of administrative enforcement processes. As civil rights leaders we condemn today’s decision limiting the ability of federal agencies to act in these areas, which are critical to the health and well-being of our communities.
This decision represents yet another power grab by an extremist Supreme Court. Overruling decades of precedent, the Court has decided that judges know more than experts working on behalf of the American people. We cannot stand by and allow this Court to continue undermining laws that have been instrumental to protecting our communities. We will fight back.
Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President, National Action Network
Melanie Campbell, President and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO, NAACP
Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel, Legal Defense Fund
Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Maya Wiley, President and CEO, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Shavon Arline-Bradley, President and National Chair, National Council of Negro Women
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