Idaho AG Urges Supreme Court to Block Federal Agencies from Writing Criminal Law

Idaho urges Supreme Court to enforce constitutional requirement that elected representatives, not federal agencies, define criminal conduct

BOISE, ID - Attorney General Raúl Labrador filed a brief this week urging the United States Supreme Court to restore the constitutional requirement that Congress, not unelected federal agencies, must define criminal conduct. The brief, filed in Pheasant v. United States, challenges a federal law that allows the Bureau of Land Management to decide what actions are criminal across 245 million acres of public land without any meaningful limits from Congress.

"The Constitution gives Congress the power to make laws and the Executive the duty to enforce them, but here Congress improperly handed the power to define crimes on public lands to the Bureau of Land Management," said Attorney General Labrador. "Across nearly a quarter of Idaho, families can face prosecution under rules written by unelected bureaucrats they never voted for and cannot hold accountable. We are asking the Supreme Court to restore the separation of powers the Founders designed to protect liberty and rein in the administrative state."

The case began when Gregory Pheasant was arrested for riding a dirt bike without a taillight on BLM land near Reno, Nevada. A federal district court dismissed the charges, ruling that Congress violated the Constitution's separation of powers by authorizing BLM to create any criminal regulation it deemed necessary for managing public lands without defining what conduct should be criminal. The Ninth Circuit reversed that decision, and Pheasant has now asked the Supreme Court to review whether Congress may delegate criminal lawmaking authority to executive agencies.

Idaho's brief argues that allowing agencies to define crimes themselves violates fundamental constitutional principles that trace to the Founding. Under settled common law and political philosophy embraced by the Framers, delegated power cannot be re-delegated without the consent of the original grantor. The People granted Congress legislative authority through the Constitution, but only Congress. Allowing Congress to hand that authority to agencies breaks the link between lawmaking and the consent of the governed.

Using this authority, BLM has criminalized conduct traditionally regulated by states, including playing music too loudly, repositioning campground furniture, searching for treasure, and possessing outdated vehicle registration. The agency's rules carry criminal penalties of up to one year imprisonment and $1,000 fines. Because most BLM land sits in western states, the impact falls disproportionately on Idaho and its neighbors. Idaho is 61% federal land, with BLM managing 22% of state land, giving unelected federal officials control over criminal justice across vast portions of Idaho.

Idaho's brief urges the Court to grant review and reverse the Ninth Circuit's decision. The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear the case in the coming months.

Read the brief from the states here.