Court Opinion

ID: 9494182
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 15:31:27.871452+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:56:15.985858
License: Public Domain

GAJARSA, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I agree with the judgment and conclusions of the majority. However, I write separately to clarify that our decision upholds the constitutionality of the regulations on their face, not in their application.
Eastern Paralyzed mounts a facial challenge to the regulations. Eastern Paralyzed argues that the regulations themselves must contain provisions necessary to satisfy the due process requirements. However, Eastern Paralyzed faces a “heavy burden in seeking to have the regulations invalidated as facially unconstitutional.” Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173, 183, 111 S.Ct. 1759, 114 L.Ed.2d 233 (1991). A facial challenge is the “most difficult challenge to mount successfully, since the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exists” under which the regulations could be valid. Id.
In this case, Eastern Paralyzed contends that the regulations might operate unconstitutionally if the Department of Veterans Affairs Directive (“DVA Directive”) were *1364rescinded or modified. Indeed, a veteran’s right to present evidence, rebut evidence, and request a medical examination flows from the DVA Directive, not the language of the regulation itself.
An agency directive is not subject to the notice and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553 (1994), and may be modified or rescinded at any time. Indeed, the DVA Directive at issue in this case was recently altered without notice and comment rulemaking procedures, and is set to expire in 2006.
It is possible that veterans may be deprived of their due process guarantees if the DVA Directive is altered or rescinded, leaving veterans without any opportunity to present evidence, rebut evidence, or request a medical examination. However, this possibility cannot serve as the basis for declaring the regulations unconstitutional in a facial challenge. The fact that the regulations “might operate unconstitutionally under some conceivable set of circumstances is insufficient to render it wholly invalid.” United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987).
As currently applied, the regulations comport with the due process requirements because the DVA Directive furnishes veterans with the right to present evidence, rebut evidence, and request a medical examination. Therefore, the regulations cannot be unconstitutional on their face.