Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-1008_1b82.pdf
Page Number: 68

22 

CORNER POST, INC. v. BOARD OF GOVERNORS, FRS 

JACKSON, J., dissenting 

agency’s rules, by founders who can choose to enter the in-
dustry or not, can demand that well-established rules of en-
gagement be revisited.  But even setting aside those com-
monsense fairness concerns, the constant churn of potential 
attacks on an agency’s rules by new entrants can harm all 
entities in a regulated industry.  At any time, anyone can 
come along and potentially cause every entity to have to ad-
just its whole operations manual, since any rule (no matter 
how well settled) might be subject to alteration.  Indeed, the 
obvious need for stability in the rules that govern an indus-
try  is  precisely  why  a  defined  period  for  challenging  the 
rules was needed at all.
  Knowledgeable amici have explained that the majority’s
approach  to  accrual  of  the  statute  of  limitations  for  APA 
claims undermines the “[s]tability, predictability, and con-
sistency  [that]  enable[s]  small  businesses  to  survive  and 
thrive.”  Brief for Small Business Associations as Amici Cu-
riae 5.  And there is no question that long-term uncertainty 
“hinders the ability of businesses to plan effectively.”  Id., 
at 9. The majority’s accrual rule unnecessarily creates “fre-
quent, inconsistent, judicially-driven policy changes that do 
not involve the sort of careful balancing envisioned in the
normal  process  of  regulatory  change.”    Id.,  at  12.  And, 
again, one might think that preventing such chaos is pre-
cisely why Congress enacted a statute of limitations in the 
first place.

Seeking to minimize the fully foreseeable and potentially 
devastating  impact  of  its  ruling,  the  majority  maintains 
that there is nothing to see here, because not every lawsuit 
brought  by  a  new  industry  upstart  will  win,  and,  at  any
rate, many agency regulations are already subject to chal-
lenge.  See ante, at 21.  But this myopic rationalization over-
looks other significant changes that this Court has wrought 
this Term with respect to the longstanding rules governing 
review of agency actions.  The discerning reader will know
that the Court has handed down other decisions this Term