The Buckeye Institute has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in the case Relentless v. U.S. Department of Commerce, urging the court to overturn a lower court decision and invalidate a rule from the Department of Commerce that requires commercial fishermen to house, feed, and pay government-mandated monitors.
“In 1767, in his first letter from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, John Dickinson warned of the dangers of the British Parliament forcing the American colonists to quarter British soldiers,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “What the British sought to do to American colonists, the National Marine Fisheries Service now seeks to do to Atlantic herring fishermen.”
In its brief—its second in this case—The Buckeye Institute contends that both the Department of Commerce rule and a New England Fishery Management Council requirement violate constitutional principles found in the Third and Fourth Amendments. The organization also argues that Congress did not give authority to force fishermen to pay for monitors living on their boats and that silence from Congress does not grant such power to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The brief states that the lower court failed to consider a recent Supreme Court decision overturning judicial deference under Chevron doctrine.
The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act did not authorize NMFS to make fishermen pay for government-mandated monitors residing on their vessels. However, due to budget constraints, NMFS implemented a rule requiring Atlantic herring fishermen to carry, house, and compensate these government monitors. The owners of Relentless—represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance with support from The Buckeye Institute—challenged this rule as unconstitutional and sought an end to Chevron deference. After winning at one stage, the case was sent back for further evaluation based on statutory language rather than agency interpretation.
The Buckeye Institute is an independent research and educational nonprofit based in Columbus, Ohio with offices on Capitol Square according to its official website. Established in 1989 as a non-partisan think tank and classified as a 501(c)(3) entity, it focuses on advancing free-market public policy through research, data analysis, legal advocacy, and policy recommendations with support from private funding. While concentrating efforts primarily in Ohio, it promotes free-market ideas nationally and assists policymakers with research and data-driven solutions.
