K. Eric Adair and Rebecca R. Akroyd

March 2012

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The Tucson Herpetological Society v. Salazar Decision and Its Progeny: A Move Away from Blind Deference to Agency Decision-Making

With its 2009 decision in Tucson Herpetological Society v. Salazar, 566 F.3d 870 (9th Cir. 2009), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit signaled that courts should not blindly defer to scientific decisions made by federal agencies when those agencies fail to adequately explain or justify those decisions. The significant deference afforded federal agencies notwithstanding, Tucson Herpetological established a judicial willingness to look behind the decision-making process to ensure that agency decisions are consistent with and supported by the best available science.