Free enterprise fund v. public company accounting oversight board: muddling the law while making new law

The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision today invalidating a portion of the statute creating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board extends the implied power of the President to remove officers of the US, but does so in a back-handed manner and introduces confusion into whether thousands of per...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Administrative & Regulatory Law News 2010-07, Vol.35 (4), p.11
Main Author: Morrison, Alan B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accounting
Accounting firms
Federal government
Free enterprise
Presidential powers
Public companies
Regulatory agencies
Sanctions
State court decisions
Supreme Court decisions
Technique
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Summary:The Supreme Court's 5-4 decision today invalidating a portion of the statute creating the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board extends the implied power of the President to remove officers of the US, but does so in a back-handed manner and introduces confusion into whether thousands of persons who work for the federal government are entitled to the statutory protections against removal that are currently contained in multiple provisions of the US Code. The case was filed by the non-profit Free Enterprise Fund and by an accounting firm that is a member of the Fund and that was once investigated by the Board (but was not sanctioned) and is still subject to regulation by it. The Court rightly rejected that contention on the ground that at least the accounting firm was objecting to being subjected to a Board that was illegally appointed and thus had no power to do anything.
ISSN:1544-1547
2163-1743