The administrative state as realized through the numerous regulatory agencies serves as one of the greatest subversions of lawful and representative government. The purpose of these agencies is to serve as subject matter experts in their various fields of operation and to assist congress by writing laws and regulations concerning best practices for those fields.
Unfortunately, these agencies operate largely outside of the system of checks and balances designed to protect the individual rights of the people they claim to serve. The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), based out of California, submitted a 46 page document to the Office of Management and Budget outlining the corruption and unconstitutionality of the way the current administrative state operates. This assessment written by the PLF can be accessed at www.regulations.gov. In it, the PLF cites several court cases which clearly illustrates not only the abuses of power and unconstitutionality of several regulatory agencies but also the shear contempt these organizations hold for the peaceful and law abiding people of the United States. Site visitors are highly encouraged to read the full document for a more thorough understanding of the subversion of lawful government achieved through regulatory agencies.
5th Amendment Violations
The fifth amendment to the constitution denies the government of the right or authority to deprive anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Many of these regulatory agencies not only write the laws, but also hold exclusive right to prosecute violations of the law and to pronounce guilt at their discretion without objective evidence or a defined process of investigation, or to provide a means of defense for of the guilty party. In at least one case, the EPA actively fought to prevent a defendant from seeking a judicial review. Incidentally, after years of legal expense the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled against the EPA in that case.
Under our normal system of justice, we uphold the standard that the accused are innocent until proven guilty and that the burden of proof of guilt is the responsibility of the accuser. Regulatory agencies systematically impose heavy and immediate fines or forfeiture of property at the point of their accusation of a violation of their law. They impose these punishments definitively and without opportunity for the accused to offer evidence in his favor. This directly deprives people of liberty and property and is enacted in a manner which intentionally subverts due process of law.
In addition to immediate punishment without due process, regulatory agencies also circumvent the responsibility of proof and force the defendant to assume the burden of proving his innocence of violating laws that are in the words of the PLM “often opaque, confusing, standardless, and lacking in notice”.
6th Amendment Violations
The sixth amendment to the constitution (among other things) charges the government with the responsibility of ensuring the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, and to have a compulsory process for the defendant to obtain witnesses in his favor.
Regulatory agencies have repeatedly and categorically denied accused violators the right to a legal defense by intentionally purging or withholding evidence in favor of the defendants, and by collecting and submitting evidence against the defendants that was scientifically inaccurate or unsubstantiated.
Many agencies have unlawfully compelled defendants to cease their defense against ridiculous and meritless claims by stretching out adjudicative proceedings for unreasonable and unwarranted periods of time and by crippling dependents with cruel and unusual fines throughout the proceedings as to intentionally bankrupt them before allowing their defense.
8th Amendment Violations
The eight amendment to the constitution bars the government from imposing excessive fines or cruel and unusual punishments.
The EPA has granted itself the right to fine landowners up to $37,500 per day for a violation. Again, these fines are imposed immediately upon the defendant without due process of law and often used in fact to prevent legal defense. As evidenced by court cases such as Johnson v. EPA, the EPA has sufficiently demonstrated its willingness, if not outright eagerness, to impose this maximum penalty on ordinary individuals.
In another case, a different agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, sued an individual for $40,000,000 for having the audacity to legally challenge one of their rulings. Not only are these types of proceedings an unconstitutional and thereby illegal infringement of the rights of individual to due process of law, and the right to a fair and speedy trial, but they also impose fines so excessive that they may be justly considered cruel and unusual punishment. The cruel and unusual aspect of these fines is especially evident when considering the otherwise peaceful and productive nature of the alleged violations.
The exceedingly immoral acts of these agencies along with their deliberate subversion of our constitution and rule of law demonstrates the danger of having any form of government that is not directly accountable to the people it exists to serve. While there may very well be aspects of these regulatory agencies that do benefit the people and provide necessary protections, there should be no element of our government that is immune to our system of checks and balances.