Court Opinion

ID: 9469626
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 02:45:22.848353+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:28.990803
License: Public Domain

McKAY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
Normally, when reasonable men can differ in interpreting the sweep of governmental intrusiveness, I am inclined, because of my sense of our law and tradition, to move toward an interpretation that limits rather than expands the sweep of governmental prying. As the opinions in this case illustrate, the proper interpretation of the scope of the Civil Aeronautics Board’s authority to examine any and all records required to be kept by a carrier is by no means obvious. The only issues raised in this case concern the CAB’s statutory and regulatory authority; no constitutional issue has been raised. What ultimately persuades me to join in Judge Logan’s dissent is a reexamination of the Supreme Court’s decision in Wyman v. *861James, 400 U.S. 309, 91 S.Ct. 381, 27 L.Ed.2d 408 (1971). In that case, the Court found no infringement of constitutional rights in an agency’s requirement that a beneficiary of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program submit to home visits by inspectors as a condition to receiving further benefits. If we authorize severe penalties against persons receiving direct welfare assistance unless they surrender important constitutional rights to accommodate the inspection desires of the administering agency, it makes no sense to restrict inspection rights of an agency in the case of corporate beneficiaries of regulatory schemes. After all, the airline carriers are in a much better position to pressure for legislative and regulatory limitations on government intrusiveness in the name of regulation than are the poor recipients of government largess.