Anakin Skywalker lives in Endor, California. As a resident of Endor, Skywalker owns a singlestory
house where he resides with his wife, Padme, and their two children, Yoda and Chewie.
To pay his mortgage and property taxes, Skywalker owns and operates a small business called
Tablemania, a store where he manufactures and sells coffee tables carved by his lightsaber.
Over the years, Skywalker has become world renowned for his critically]acclaimed coffee
tables. In fact, just last year, Skywalker was featured on the cover of Table Illustrated as being
the number one coffee table designer in the world. Skywalker often gets special orders from
Hollywoodfs biggest stars (like George Lucas and Harrison Ford), and if you look really closely,
you can almost always spot one of his coffee tables as set pieces in movies and television
shows. Known for his signature glass tops, all of Skywalkerfs tables feature glass so thin and
clear that his tables can sometimes appear invisible. In a period of five years, Skywalker went
from selling 50 tables a year to selling 1,000 tables a year, and his profits are now quickly
approaching one million dollars per year.
However, just when things seemed to be going perfectly for Skywalker, he learned one night
while watching the national news that the Environmental Protection Agency (gEPAh) had just
passed a regulation calling for the ban of all glass]top coffee tables. Wondering what effect this
would have on his business, Skywalker searched for the legislation on the internet, but he
couldnft find anything. Instead, he did additional research and found the following regulation
on the EPAfs website:
In 2013, for the safety of all coffee]drinkers, the EPA will regulate all
coffee tables to ensure that they are safe for the placement of coffee cups
available in the United States. All glass top coffee tables are hereby
banned in the United States and any person that produces a glass top
coffee table after the effective date of the regulation shall be jailed for
ten days and fined $5,000 per illegal coffee table.
When reading more about the EPA, Luke learned that the EPAfs director is appointed by the
president, serves a five year term, and can only be removed by the president for good cause.
He also learned that the EPA seems to be passing regulations through notice and comment and
has an adjudicatory department where he could file a grievance. On the same website, he
found 2 hyperlinks. The first hyperlink took him to a statute that created the EPA. It was very
long, but Luke saw that the EPA was established by Congress gto protect the environment for
the people of the United States.h The second hyperlink took him to something called the
Federal Register where he was able to read the entire regulation about coffee tables.
In reading the Federal Register, Luke learned that the regulation was published in the Federal
Register on August 1, 2013 and was scheduled to take effect on August 13, 2013. According to
the Federal Register, no comments were received by the public on the regulation, and no
findings were made by the EPA to establish why a gglass]toph is dangerous
Skywalkerfs business could be ruined by this regulation, and Tablemania has already sold five
glass]top coffee tables since August 13.
1. Assume that agents for the EPA come into Skywalkerfs store and arrest him. Can the
EPA fine and/or jail Skywalker? Explain why you answered yes or no. Also, explain if
there is any possible way that he could be jailed.
2. Can Skywalker sue the EPA and challenge the regulation? Assuming he can, how can he
go about suing the EPA (discuss all possible courts) and what arguments and facts can
he present in order to get the regulation banning glass tops overturned? In answering
this question, make sure you discuss the following issues, among others, as Skywalker
would advocate them: the Constitutionality of the EPA, the method used to pass the
regulation, what type of judicial review may be used, etc.
3. Assuming Skywalker is able to sue the EPA, what defenses will the EPA assert to try and
defeat Skywalkerfs case? In answering this case, make sure you discuss the following
issues, among others, as the EPA would advocate them: the Constitutionality of the
EPA, the method used to pass the regulation, the interpretation of the organic statute
by the EPA, etc.