Professor Katherine Macfarlane provided insight into one of the first legal challenges brought after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright overturned the Chevron deference to government agencies. She spoke with Bloomberg Law for the story “Tennessee Horse Show Picks Texas to Challenge Rule Post Chevron”.
Three days after the Loper Bright decision, The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Association filed a lawsuit with two show horse owners challenging an Agriculture Department regulation that aims to crack down on horse soring. The case was filed in Amarillo, TX before U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk who often rules against Biden administration policies.
Macfarlane said she isn’t convinced the challengers in this case specifically tried to shop for a preferred judge or timed their filing to follow the Chevron decision. Either way, the civil procedure expert said any plaintiff in the U.S. who wants to challenge an agency action now has a better argument because courts no longer have to defer to the agency.
“If I had a case that presented the ability to undo agency action in a way that aligned with predictable Kacsmaryk political fault lines, it’s a good time to file in front of Judge Kacsmaryk,” she said.
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