Court Opinion

ID: 9445759
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 21:37:45.820551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:30:24.018272
License: Public Domain

BAZELON, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
Under applicable regulations1 appellant was entitled to notice that the Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision in his favor had been referred to the Attorney General for review. The plain purpose of such notice is to afford appellant an opportunity to urge his position on brief to the Attorney General. Appellant was deprived of that opportunity since he was not given notice until after the Attorney General had reversed the Board’s decision.
The integrity of each step in the regulatory scheme for administrative decision was emphasized in United States ex rel. Accardi v. Shaughnessy, 1954, 347 U.S. 260, 74 S.Ct. 499, 98 L.Ed. 681. There the Board of Immigration Appeals, to which the Attorney General had delegated his discretionary power to suspend deportation, under § 19(c) of the Immigration Act of 1917, had denied Accardi’s application for suspension. Accardi appealed on the ground that inclusion of his name on the Attorney General’s list of “unsavory characters” precluded fair consideration of his case by the Board. The Court held that the regulations by which the Attorney General delegated his discretionary authority to the Board forbid him to dictate the Board’s decision, even though, as the dissenting justices pointed out, the Board’s “every decision is subject to his unlimited review and revision.” 347 U.S. at pages 269, 270, 74 S.Ct. at page 504. “In short,” said the Court, “as long as the regulations remain operative, the Attorney General denies himself the right to sidestep the Board or dictate its decision in any manner.” Id., 347 U. S. at page 267, 74 S.Ct. at page 503.2 The Court remanded the case to the District Court to determine whether there had, in fact, been a prejudgment; and if so, to order a new administrative hearing.
As long as the regulations in the instant case remain operative, the appellant must be afforded the opportunity to defend the Board’s decision in his favor and the Attorney General must fairly consider any argument made. Since appellant was denied the opportunity to defend the Board’s favorable decision before the Attorney General reversed it, the Attorney General’s decision was not made in accordance with law and is therefore fatally defective.