Gina Raimondo et al., Respondents
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 issued the landmark decision Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., which held that courts should defer to executive branch agencies when interpreting federal laws that are vague or unclear. That ruling has given the federal bureaucracy considerable power to set the details of government policy without second-guessing by the judiciary. In February 2020, a group of four family-owned fishing companies filed suit against Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (later replaced by Gina Raimondo) and the U.S. government, asserting that their interpretation of a federal maritime fisheries law was incorrect and that…
