As the nation reflects on the service of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, one of his final acts on the United States Supreme Court days before his death has been overshadowed.
A preliminary order that the Supreme Court issued Feb. 9 by a 5-4 vote — with Scalia in the majority — potentially could be of long-term legal significance. The court took the extraordinary step of ordering a halt to an Environmental Protection Agency rule that would regulate existing coal-fired power plants. Twenty-six states, including Indiana, contend EPA through this rule has overstepped its authority under the Clean Air Act. The court granted the relief the states sought and ordered a temporary stay of the rule while the underlying legal challenge plays out in the lower court. As some commentators have noted, the court “hit the pause button” on the EPA rule.
Media coverage of the Feb. 9 order prior to Scalia’s death focused on the policy arguments over the impact of the EPA rule on air quality and the costs of electricity. The fact that the Supreme Court took this rare action now — rather than wait for the lawsuit to work its way up on appeal from the lower court, which could take another year — suggests the court might have reservations about how far a federal agency may extend its own powers without congressional authorization.
Click here to read more of Attorney General Zoeller's op-ed.
