Court Opinion

ID: 9464995
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 00:32:55.259929+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:38:55.444386
License: Public Domain

ALVIN B. RUBIN, Circuit Judge,
Concurring:
Concurring in what my brother Goldberg has said, I add only the lament, so frequently voiced and so infrequently heeded, concerning the obscurity of federal regulations. As a result of the failure of government officials to write what they urge they meant, unnecessary burdens were placed on Kinnett and Flav-O-Rich, on the procurement officer, and on the federal judicial system.
“Regulations shall be as simple and clear as possible,” the President has instructed all executive agencies. Executive Order 12044, March 23, 1978, 43 Fed.Reg. 12661. “They shall achieve legislative goals effectively and efficiently. They shall not impose unnecessary burdens on the economy, on individuals, on public or private organizations, or on State and local governments.” This order was issued after these regulations were promulgated but its admonition applies to the maze of regulations already on the Federal Register.
It should not be an insuperable problem for the Department of Defense and other executive agencies to write regulations that conform to the Presidential mandate. Doing so might even ease their own tasks and reduce their own burdens.