Vol. 7, No. 6, Pg. 45. Two Years with the ALJ Division.

• Author: By Eileen Schoen Githens

South Carolina Lawyer

1996.

Vol. 7, No. 6, Pg. 45.

Two Years with the ALJ Division

45Two Years with the ALJ DivisionBy Eileen Schoen Githens"Administrative law," says U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, "is not for sissies." Judicial Deference to Administrative Interpretations of Law, 1989 Duke L.J. 511. A review of the orders issued by the Administrative Law Judge Division (Division) during its two years of operation provides an opportunity to see how the new system is meeting that challenge.

It is black letter law that a fair trial is a basic requirement of due process. Over a century ago, another Supreme Court Justice declared it "an elementary principle of natural justice that no man shall sit in judgment where he is interested, no matter how unimpeachable his personal integrity" Spring Valley Water-Works vs. Schottler, 110 U.S. 147 (1884) (Justice Field).

Nevertheless, for many years in South Carolina and most other states, appeals of state agency decisions were heard by hearing officers appointed and paid by the same agency that made the disputed decision. That system was replaced in 1993 with the Division, which serves as an independent and impartial forum for persons aggrieved by certain state agency decisions.

How is the Division doing? Between its inception in March 1994 and February 1996, the six ALJs disposed of 849 cases. Almost 53% of those cases involved hearings on 96 insurance rate increases and 352 alcohol beverage license protests. These types of cases are brought directly to the Division; they are not decided first by a state agency.

For the most part, the remaining 401 cases arrived at the Division as contested cases or as appeals from state agency decisions. These cases involve a broad scope of complex issues, including professional license suspensions and, revocations, appeals from state and local tax assessments, waste disposal and pollution control issues, and health care certificate of need decisions. About half of these cases were settled...