Net Neutrality, and other FCC Initiatives Jeopardized Post-Chevron

This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

It has been a big week for tech policy at the Supreme Court. As my AEI colleague Clay Calvert discussed, the NetChoice cases endorsed social media platforms’ First Amendment right of editorial control. But for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other agencies, Loper Bright, which overturned Chevron, looms largest. The FCC in particular has long benefited from Chevron’s command that agencies, not courts, are the primary arbiters of an ambiguous statute’s meaning. Overturning this regime, and restoring that authority to courts, is likely to pose additional challenges for net neutrality, digital discrimination, and other FCC initiatives that capitalized on ambiguous language to accomplish the agency’s policy objectives.

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Documenting the Triumphs of Our Black BC Law Community

In 2023, only 5% of all attorneys across the United States identified as Black or African American, according to the ABA National Lawyer Population Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau (not including the 3% of attorneys who identified as multi-racial). In that same year, only 2% of Black or African American identifying attorneys were women. 

These statistics lay bare the stark reality that Black attorneys are underrepresented in the legal community. The same census report cites 15% of Americans who identify as Black, or Black in addition to another race(s). However, the number of Black attorneys does not align with the magnitude of contributions they have made to, and accolades they have earned within, the legal field. 

Within the BC Law community lies a special history of Black excellence. Boston College Law School’s new website “Black History at BC Law” and a companion BC Law Magazine feature story documents and praises the triumphs of our Black BC Law community.

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