On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States cited to the work of Professor John Plecnik, who serves as an Associate Professor of Law at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University.  Justice Sonia Sotomayor cited Professor Plecnik‘s article, “Officers Under the Appointments Clause,” 11 Pitt. Tax Rev. 201 (2014), in her dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case of Lucia v. Securities and Exchange Commission.  The majority held that Administrative Law Judges or ALJs at the SEC are “Officers of the United States” subject to the Appointments Clause, whereas Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, would have held such ALJs are mere employees.  You can read the published works of Professor Plecnik for free on www.plecnik.org and the Lucia case is already available on the Supreme Court’s website.

Here is the link to “Officers Under the Appointments Clause”:

Here is the link to Lucia v. SEC: