OPINION:
Former judge and law professor Andrew P. Napolitano makes some interesting points as to why the Supreme Court should reject the so-called Chevron doctrine (“Government by experts: All regulations interfere with personal liberty,” Web, Jan. 11). According to the doctrine, courts reviewing agency decisions should afford the agency deference regarding its interpretation of its own rules.
But then Mr. Napolitano goes way off the rails by asserting that because all regulations infringe on personal liberty, they should be presumed “immoral, unconstitutional and unlawful.” He goes even further by calling the government officials and employees who enforce regulations “a gaggle of thugs.”
Mr. Napolitano’s position that personal liberty is sacrosanct may have made sense in the 1700s when the country was sparsely populated and actions by one person had little impact on others. But it is nonsensical in today’s interdependent society. Hundreds of years ago, a farmer in Minnesota could urinate and defecate in the Mississippi River and his action would not impact the farmer downstream in Louisiana. But today, unregulated discharge of large amounts of untreated human and industrial waste upstream would sicken and kill people downstream. The same would hold true for untested pharmaceuticals and motorists speeding at will.
The bottom line: I don’t want to live in Mr. Napolitano’s personal liberty utopia. I’ll take my chances with the gaggle of thugs.
BOB BENNA
Potomac, Maryland
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