2 The Racial Roots of Administrative Law: Yesterday and Today 2 The Racial Roots of Administrative Law: Yesterday and Today
2.1 "An Ethic of Race for Public Administration" and the federal agencies referenced in this article. 2.1 "An Ethic of Race for Public Administration" and the federal agencies referenced in this article.
2.1.1. An Ethic of Race for Public Administration (excerpt)
In this class, we will explore the deeply racist roots of administrative law. In, An Ethic of Race for Public Administration, the authors provide several examples of how administrative agencies acted to harm marginalized communities -- erasing the voice and exploiting the circumstances of those with less power and resources. As a reference, there are links to some of the respective agencies responsible for the decisions explored in this reading.
I included several very eye-opening optional readings, which will not be tested on, that provide greater background about some of the issues presented in An Ethic of Race for Public Administration. These optional readings are for merely for your curiosity.
In this class, we continue with a discussion of additional examples where the federal government delegated agencies and other entities to "adjudicate the legal status of individuals." We will conlcude class with a group discussion centered on your "food for thought" reflections and musings around social justice and the adminstrative state.
Slack in-class discussion #2: discuss any of the questions posed at 2.2.4 Social Justice and the Administrative State - food for thought. Please add at least one entry to our conversation. I will ask some students to share their thoughts in class.
2.1.2. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
2.1.3. Drug Quality Sampling and Testing Programs | FDA
2.1.4. U.S. Department of the Interior
2.1.5. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
2.1.6 Optional Readings if You're Curious to Learn More (will not be tested on) 2.1.6 Optional Readings if You're Curious to Learn More (will not be tested on)
2.1.6.1. Unethical Clinical Trials Still Being Conducted in Developing Countries | HuffPost null
2.1.6.2. Unethical Drug Trials In Third World Countries: Are We Their Human Guinea Pigs?
2.1.6.3. Elouise Cobell: A Small Measure of Justice | NMAI Magazine
2.1.6.4. Boldt Decision Has Rippling Effects 40 Years Later, Native Times, Feb. 14, 2014
2.1.6.5. Backlash to Boldt Decision Case Study
2.1.6.6. USPHS syphilis study | Tuskegee University
2.2 Learning (more) About the Racial Roots of Administrative Law 2.2 Learning (more) About the Racial Roots of Administrative Law
2.2.1. The Racial Roots of the Federal Administrative State, by Jonathan Weinberg
When we think about administrative law, how often do we consider slavery, internment camps, medical racism?
This week’s readings seek to create a critical lens for which you can study administrative law this semester and think about the administrative state, generally.
2.2.2 The Freedman's Bureau 2.2.2 The Freedman's Bureau
"The Freedmen’s Bureau, formally known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, was established in 1865 by Congress [as an administrative agency] to help millions of former black slaves and poor whites in the South in the aftermath of the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and ordered legal assistance. It also attempted to settle former slaves on land confiscated or abandoned during the war. However, the bureau was prevented from fully carrying out its programs due to a shortage of funds and personnel, along with the politics of race and Reconstruction." See Freedman's Bureau, History.com Editors.
2.2.3. The Freedman's Bureau: A Lesson in Social Justice vs. Presidential Will
2.2.4 Social Justice and the Administrative State - food for thought 2.2.4 Social Justice and the Administrative State - food for thought
Examining the history of adminstrative law provides necessary insight to understand how structures of white supremacy continue to embed the adminstrative state, impcating some of the most intimate aspects of our lives.
Now that we know a little bit about what agencies are and what they do, let’s think critically about how agencies relate to social justice work. As we have discussed, agencies make decisions that profoundly impact peoples’ lives. They can determine who gets unemployment support, who has the right to parent their children, who gets disability benefits, who has to pay for environmental destruction, and who is deported in immigration proceedings.
In thinking about the assigned readings in Part 2 of the casebook, consider the following to frame our class discussion:
- How do we feel about such personal and critical decisions happening through public adminsitrative agencies, instead of in Congressional or courtroom proceedings? (Note: Agencies are sometimes characterized as a “headless Fourth Branch of government” that aren’t directly accountable to the electorate.)
- Can you envision a way that administrative agencies can exercise their duty to protect the public while also being purposeful in how its decisions and practices impact marginalized communities?
- Can we look to these existing legal structures in administrative law to build social justice, or is administrative law a tool of oppression? (This is a big question with many facets!)
Feel free to explore anything that you think of as you consider the role of agencies in public interest work. I want this to be a moment where we step back and consider administrative law’s role within public interest law and what we envision when we imagine a more just system of governance. [Governance means “action or manner of governing.”]