Administrative Law's Racial Blind Spot

April 5, 2022
Lecture by Professor Daniel E. Ho of Stanford Law School.
Part of the 2021-2022 Lecture Series on Race and Regulation, organized by the Penn Program on Regulation.
Administrative law has a blind spot. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, judges have set aside agency action for failures to consider differential impacts on certain subgroups of business owners, park visitors, and even animals. But when it comes to differential impacts based on race or ethnicity, courts largely have refused to entertain claims. Drawing on a recent article, "Disparate Limbo: How Administrative Law Erased Antidiscrimination," Professor Ho traces how civil rights and administrative law have diverged over the past fifty years, as U.S. court decisions have removed issues of racial discrimination from administrative law’s purview. He explains the legal and policy implications for today’s administrative state.
This lecture was co-sponsored by Penn Law’s Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Legal Studies & Business Ethics Department at the Wharton School.
To learn more about the lecture series on race and regulation, visit the series webpage at PennReg.org/race-and-regulation. For general information about the Penn Program on Regulation, including all upcoming events, visit our website at PennReg.org.