Majority — Brennan J.
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Judicial Officer of the Department of Agriculture, acting for the Secretary of Agriculture, found that respondent, a registrant under the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921, 42 Stat. 159 , 7 U. S. C. § 181 et seq., wilfully violated §§ 307 (a) and 312 (a) of the Act, 7 U. S. C. §§ 208 (a) and 213 (a), by incorrect weighing of livestock, and also breached § 401, 7 U. S. C. § 221 , by entries of false weights. An order was entered directing that respondent cease and desist from the violations and keep correct accounts, and also suspending respondent as a registrant under the Act for 20 days. Upon review of the decision and order, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld, as supported by substantial evidence, the findings that respondent violated the Act by short-weighting cattle, and also sustained the cease-and-desist order and the order to keep correct accounts. The Court of Appeals, however, set aside the 20-day suspension. 454 F. 2d 109 (1972). We granted certiorari to consider whether, in doing so, the Court of Appeals exceeded the scope of proper judicial review of administrative sanctions. 409 U. S. 947 (1972). We conclude that the setting aside of the suspension was an impermissible judicial intrusion into the administrative domain under the circumstances of this case, and reverse.
Respondent operates a stockyard in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. As a registered “market agency” under § 303 of the Act, 7 U. S. C. § 203 , respondent is authorized to sell consigned livestock on commission, subject to the regulatory provisions of the Act and the Secretary’s implementing regulations.[1] Investigations of respondent’s op
1 7 U. S. C. §§ 201 -217a. Specifically, registrants are prohibited from engaging in or using “any unfair, unjustly discriminatory, or *184 deceptive practice or device in connection with . . . receiving, marketing, buying, or selling on a commission basis or otherwise, feeding, watering, holding, delivery, shipment, weighing, or handling ... of livestock,” 7 U. S. C. §213 (a), and are required to “keep such accounts, records, and memoranda as fully and correctly disclose all transactions involved in his business 7 U. S. C. §221 . The Secretary’s regulations may be found in 9 CFR pt. 201.
Following a hearing and the submission of briefs, the Department of Agriculture hearing examiner found that respondent had “intentionally weighed the livestock at less than their true weights, issued scale tickets and accountings to the consignors on the basis of the false weights, and paid the consignors on the basis of the false weights.”[2] The hearing examiner recommended, in addition to a cease-and-desist order and an order to keep correct records, a 30-day suspension of respondent’s registration under the Act.
The matter was then referred to the Judicial Officer.After hearing oral argument, the Judicial Officer filed a decision and order accepting the hearing examiner’s findings and adopting his recommendations of a cease-and-desist order and an order to keep correct records. The recommended suspension was also imposed but was reduced to 20 days. The Judicial Officer stated:
“It is not a pleasant task to impose sanctions but in view of the previous warnings given respondent we conclude that we should not only issue a cease and desist order but also a suspension of respondent
2 App. 35.
as a registrant under the act but for a lesser period than recommended by complainant and the hearing examiner.” 30 Agri. Dec. 179, 186 (1971).
The Court of Appeals agreed that 7 U. S. C. § 204 authorized the Secretary to suspend “any registrant found in violation of the Act,” 454 F. 2d, at 113 , that the suspension procedure here satisfied the relevant requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U. S. C. § 558 , and that “the evidence indicates that [respondent] acted with careless disregard of the statutory requirements and thus meets the test of wilfulness.’ ” 454 F. 2d, at 115 . The court nevertheless concluded that the suspension order was “unconscionable” under the circumstances of this case. The court gave two reasons. The first, relying on four previous suspension decisions, was that the Secretary’s practice was not to impose suspensions for negligent or careless violations but only for violations found to be “intentional and flagrant,” and therefore that the suspension in respondent’s case was contrary to a policy of “ ‘achieving] . . . uniformity of sanctions for similar violations.’ ” The second reason given was that “[t]he cease and desist order coupled with the damaging publicity surrounding these proceedings would certainly seem appropriate and reasonable with respect to the practice the Department seeks to eliminate.” Id., at 114, 115 .
The applicable standard of judicial review in such cases required review of the Secretary’s order according to the “fundamental principle . . . that where Congress has entrusted an administrative agency with the responsibility of selecting the means of achieving the statutory policy 'the relation of remedy to policy is peculiarly a matter for administrative competence.’ ” American Power Co. v. SEC, 329 U. S. 90 , 112 (1946). Thus, the Secretary’s choice of sanction was not to be overturned unless the Court of Appeals might find it “unwarranted
We read the Court of Appeals’ opinion to suggest that the sanction was “unwarranted in law” because “uniformity of sanctions for similar violations” is somehow mandated by the Act. We search in vain for that requirement in the statute.[4] The Secretary may suspend
3 The Court of Appeals stated: “Ordinarily it is not for the courts to modify ancillary features of agency orders which are supported by substantial evidence. The shaping of remedies is peculiarly within the special competence of the regulatory agency vested by Congress with authority to deal with these matters, and so long as the remedy selected does not exceed the agency’s statutory power to impose and it bears a reasonable relation to the practice sought to be eliminated, a reviewing court may not interfere. . . . [A]ppellate courts [may not] enter the more spacious domain of public policy which Congress has entrusted in the various regulatory agencies.” 454 F. 2d 109 , 114.
4 The Court of Appeals cited a 1962 decision by the Secretary in which appears a reference to “uniformity of sanctions for similar violations.” In re Silver, 21 Agri. Dec. 1438 (1962). That reference is no support for the Court of Appeals’ decision, however, for the Secretary said expressly in that decision: “False and incorrect weighing of livestock by registrants under the act is a flagrant and serious violation thereof ...” and “even if respondent did not give instructions for the false weighings, his negligence in allowing the false weighings over an extended period brings such situation unthin the reach of the cited cases [sustaining sanctions] and we would still order the sanctions below.” Id., at 1452 (emphasis added).
Moreover, the Court of Appeals may have been in error in acting on the premise that the Secretary’s practice was to impose suspensions only in cases of “intentional and flagrant conduct.”[6] The Secretary’s practice, rather, apparently is to employ that sanction as in his judgment
5 It is by no means clear that respondent’s violations were merely negligent. The hearing examiner found that respondent had “intentionally” underweighed livestock, and the Judicial Officer stated: “We conclude then, as did the hearing examiner, that respondent wilfully violated . . . the act.” (Emphasis added.) “Wilfully” could refer to either intentional conduct or conduct that was merely careless or negligent. It seems clear, however, that the Judicial Officer sustained the hearing examiner’s finding that the violations were “intentional.”
6 See, e. g., In re Martella, 30 Agri. Dec. 1479 (1971); In re Meggs, 30 Agri. Dec. 1314 (1971); In re Producers Livestock Mar *188 keting Assn., 30 Agri. Dec. 796 (1971); In re Trimble, 29 Agri. Dec. 936 (1970); In re Anson, 28 Agri. Dec. 1127 (1969); In re Williamstown Stockyards, 27 Agri. Dec. 252 (1968); In re Middle Georgia Livestock Sales Co., 23 Agri. Dec. 1361 (1964). These cases involve suspension of registrants under the Packers and Stockyards Act for false weighing of producers’ livestock and in none was there a finding that the violation was intentional or flagrant. There are also many cases of suspension for diverse other violations without a finding that the conduct was intentional or flagrant. See, e. g., In re Wallis, 29 Agri. Dec. 37 (1970).
Nor can we perceive any basis on this record for a conclusion that the suspension of respondent was so “without justification in fact” “as to constitute an abuse of [the Secretary’s] discretion.” American Power Co. v. SEC, 329 U. S., at 115 ; Moog Industries, Inc. v. FTC, 355 U. S., at 414 ; Barsky v. Board of Regents, 347 U. S. 442 , 455 (1954). The Judicial Officer rested the suspension on his view of its necessity in light of respondent’s disregard of previous warnings. The facts found concerning the previous warnings and respondent’s disregard of these warnings were sustained by the Court of Appeals as based on ample evidence. In that circumstance, the overturning of the suspension authorized by the statute was an impermissible intrusion into the administrative domain.
Similarly, insofar as the Court of Appeals rested its action on its view that, in light of damaging publicity about the charges, the cease-and-desist order sufficiently redressed respondent’s violations, the court clearly exceeded its function of judicial review. The fashioning of an appropriate and reasonable remedy is for the
Dissent — Stewart J.
Reversed.
with whom Mr. Justice Douglas joins,
dissenting.
The only remarkable thing about this case is its presence in this Court. For the case involves no more than the application of well-settled principles to a familiar situation, and has little significance except for the respondent. Why certiorari was granted is a mystery to me — particularly at a time when the Court is thought by many to be burdened by too heavy a caseload. See Rule 19, Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Court of Appeals did nothing more than review a penalty imposed by the Secretary of Agriculture that was alleged by the respondent to be discriminatory and arbitrary. In approaching its task, the appellate court displayed an impeccable understanding of the permissible scope of review:
“The scope of our review is limited to the correction of errors of law and to an examination of the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the factual conclusions. The findings and order of the Judicial Officer must be sustained if not contrary to law and if supported by substantial evidence. Also, this Court may not substitute its judgment for that of the Judicial Officer’s as to which of the various inferences may be drawn from the evidence.” 454 F. 2d 109 , 110-111.
“Ordinarily it is not for the courts to modify ancillary features of agency orders which are supported by substantial evidence. The shaping of remedies is peculiarly within the special competence of the regulatory agency vested by Congress with authority to deal with these matters, and so long as the remedy selected does not exceed the agency’s statutory power to impose and it bears a reasonable relation to the practice sought to be eliminated, a reviewing court may not interfere.” Id., at 114 .
Had the Court of Appeals used the talismanic language of the Administrative Procedure Act, and found the penalty to be either “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law,” 5 U. S. C. § 706 (2) (A), I have no doubt that certiorari would have been denied. But the Court of Appeals made the mistake of using the wrong words, saying that the penalty was “unconscionable,” because it was “unwarranted and without justification in fact.”[1]
Today the Court holds that the penalty was not “unwarranted in law,” because it was within permissible statutory limits. But this ignores the valid principle of law that motivated the Court of Appeals — the principle that like cases are to be treated alike. As Professor Jaffe has put the matter:
“The scope of judicial review is ultimately conditioned and determined by the major proposition that the constitutional courts of this country are the acknowledged architects and guarantors of the integrity of the legal system. . . . An agency is not an island entire of itself. It is one of the many rooms in the magnificent mansion of the law. The
1 The Court of Appeals borrowed this phrasing of the test from this Court’s opinion in American Power Co. v. SEC, 329 U. S. 90 112-113.
very subordination of the agency to judicial jurisdiction is intended to proclaim the premise that each agency is to be brought into harmony with the totality of the law; the law as it is found in the statute at hand, the statute book at large, the principles and conceptions of the 'common law/ and the ultimate guarantees associated with the Constitution.”[2]
The reversal today of a wholly defensible Court of Appeals judgment accomplishes two unfortunate results. First, the Court moves administrative decisionmaking one step closer to unreviewability, an odd result at a time when serious concern is being expressed about the fairness of agency justice.[3] Second, the Court serves notice upon the federal judiciary to be wary indeed of venturing to correct administrative arbitrariness.
Because I think the Court of Appeals followed the correct principles of judicial review of administrative conduct, I would affirm its judgment.
2 L. Jaffe, Judicial Control of Administrative Action 589-590 (1965).
3 See generally K. Davis, Discretionary Justice: A Preliminary Inquiry (1969), reviewed by Wright, Beyond Discretionary Justice, 81 Yale L. J. 575 .
Cases cited
- 454 F. 2d 109 454 F. 2d 109 at 114 p. 182, p. 189, p. 190
- Durst v. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 409 U. S. 947 p. 182
- American Power & Light Co. v. Securities & Exchange Commission 329 U. S. 90 at 112-113, at 115 p. 185, p. 186, p. 188
- Phelps Dodge Corp. v. National Labor Relations Board 313 U. S. 177 p. 186
- Moog Industries, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission 355 U. S. 411 at 414 p. 186, p. 188
- Federal Trade Commission v. Universal-Rundle Corp. 387 U. S. 244 at 250 p. 186, p. 187
- 276 F. 2d 308 276 F. 2d 308 p. 187
- 260 F. 2d 286 260 F. 2d 286 p. 187
- Federal Communications Commission v. Woko, Inc. 329 U. S. 223 p. 187
- 429 F. 2d 856 429 F. 2d 856 p. 187
- 373 F. 2d 107 373 F. 2d 107 p. 187
- 425 F. 2d 1346 425 F. 2d 1346 p. 187
- Barsky v. Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York 347 U. S. 442 p. 188
- Jacob Siegel Co. v. Federal Trade Commission 327 U. S. 608 p. 189