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42 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1105 (2000-2001)
Respecting Deference: Conceptualizing Skidmore within the Architecture of Chevron

handle is hein.journals/wmlr42 and id is 1125 raw text is: William and Mary Law Review VOLUME 42 No. 4,2001 RESPECTING DEFERENCE: CONCEPTUALIZING SKIDMORE WITHIN THE ARCHITECTURE OF CHEVRON JIM Rossi* This Article addresses critically the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Christensen v. Harris County, 120 S. Ct. 1655 (2000), for standards of judicial review of agency interpretations of law. Christensen is a notable case in the administrative law area because it purports to clarify application of the deference doctrine first articulated in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134 (1944). By reviving this doctrine, Christensen narrows application of the predominant approach to deference articulated in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), thus reducing the level of deference in many appeals involving administrative agency interpretations oflaw. This Article addresses the deference debate in this context, criticizing Christensen, especially Justice Thomas's majority opinion. This Article argues that the majority did not correctly apply Skidmore, * Visiting Professor, University of Texas School of Law, 2000-2001; Patricia A. Dore Professor, Florida State University College of Law. Thanks to Scott Angstreich, Michael Asimow, Cynthia Farina, Michael Herz, Harold Krent, Ronald Krotoszynski, Lars Noah, Susan Rose-Ackerman, J.B. Ruhl, Peter Strauss, Russell Weaver, and Mark Seidenfeld for their comments on a previous draft. [Editor's Note: At the time this Article went to press, Mead Corp. v. United States, 185 F.3d 1304 (Fed. Cir. 1999), cert. granted, 120 S. Ct. 2193 (2000), was still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. See infra notes 21, 89, 184 and accompanying text for citation of this case.] 1105

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