The Most Important Law Most People Have Never Heard Of

Even the title of the law — the Administrative Procedure Act or APA — is a guaranteed yawner.  Yet this law is central to the rule of law and, among other things, to environmental protection.  We are learning from the current Administration’s efforts to evade the APA just how important it is. The APA requires reasoned decisions by government. More fundamentally, the requirements of legal and procedural regularity prevent the arbitrary use of government power to reward friends and punish foes.