DEA Regulatory Agencies

Administrative Law and Regulatory Agencies
Legal Environment of Business
(DEA) Drug Enforcement Agency

The administrative agency we decided on was the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It was created by President Richard Nixon in 1973 through an Executive Order to establish unified command to combat. It was formed to regulate and put a stop to drug trafficking. It has nearly 5,000 Special Agents and a budget of $2.02 billion per year.
Also, a few more reasons on why it is formed:
Manage the national drug intelligence program in cooperation with federal, state, local, and foreign officials to collect, analyze, and disseminate strategic and
Operational drug intelligence information.
Seizure and forfeiture of assets derived
from, traceable to, or intended to be used for illicit drug trafficking.
DEA enforces the provisions of the Controlled Substances Act as they pertain to the manufacture, distribution, and dispensing of legally produced controlled substances.
The level of government the DEA applies would be the Judicial Branch because all the offenders that are convicted are transferred to jail to carry out their sentence.
The federal Freedom of Information Act applies to documents held by agencies in the executive branch of the federal government. The executive branch includes cabinet departments, military departments, government corporations, government controlled corporations, independent regulatory agencies, and other establishments in the executive branch.
The FOIA does not apply to elected officials of the federal government, including the President, Vice President, Senators, and Congressmen. The FOIA does not apply to the federal judiciary. The FOIA does not apply to private companies; persons who receive federal contracts or grants; tax-exempt organizations; or state or local governments.
All States and some localities have passed laws like the FOIA that allow people to request access to records. In addition, there are other federal and state laws that may permit access to documents held by organizations not covered by the federal
FOIA.
The FOIA requires agencies to publish or make available for public inspection several types of information. This includes: (1) descriptions of agency organization and office addresses; (2) statements of the general course and method of agency operation; (3) rules of procedure and descriptions of forms; (4) substantive rules of general applicability and general policy statements; (5) final opinions made in the adjudication of cases; and (6) administrative staff manuals that affect the public. This information must either be published in the Federal Register or made available for inspection and copying without the formality of an FOIA request.
All other "records" of a federal agency may be requested under the FOIA. However, the FOIA does not define "record". Any item containing information that is in the possession, custody, or control of an agency is usually considered to be an agency record under the FOIA. Personal notes of agency employees may not be agency records. A document that is not a "record" will not be available under the FOIA.
The form in which a record is maintained by an agency does not affect its availability. A request may seek a printed or typed document, tape recording, map, photograph, computer printout, computer tape or disk, or a similar item.
Of course, not all records that can be requested must be disclosed. Information that is exempt from disclosure is described below in the section entitled "Reasons Access May Be Denied Under the FOIA".
The FOIA carefully provides that a requester may ask for records rather than information. This means that an agency is only required to look for an existing record or document in response to an FOIA request. An agency is not obliged to create a new record to comply with a request. An agency is not required to collect information it does not have. Nor must an agency do research or analyze data for a requester.
Requesters must ask for existing records. Requests may have to be carefully written in order to obtain the desired information. Sometimes, an agency will help a requester identify a specific document that contains the information being sought. Other times, a requester may need to be creative when writing an FOIA request in order to identify an existing document or set of documents containing the desired information.
There is a second general limitation on FOIA requests. The law requires that each request must reasonably describe the records being sought. This means that a request must be specific enough to permit a professional employee of the agency who is familiar with the subject matter to locate the record in a reasonable period of time.
Because agencies organize and index records in different ways, one agency may consider a request to be reasonably descriptive while another agency may reject a similar request as too vague. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has a central index for its primary record system. As a result, the FBI is able to search for records about a specific person. However, agencies that do not maintain a central name index may be unable to conduct the same type of search. These agencies may reject a similar request because the request does not describe records that can be identified.
Requesters should make requests as specific as possible. If a particular document is required, it should be identified precisely, preferably by date and title. However, a request does not always have to be that specific. A requester who cannot identify a specific record should clearly explain his or her needs. A requester should make sure, however, that a request is broad enough to include all desired information.
For example, assume that a requester wants to obtain a list of toxic waste sites near his home. A request to the Environmental Protection Agency for all records on toxic waste would cover many more records than are needed. The fees for such a request might be very high, and it is possible that the request might be rejected as too vague.
A request for all toxic waste sites within three miles of a particular address is very specific. But it is unlikely that EPA would have an existing record containing data organized in that fashion. As a result, the request might be denied because there is no existing record containing the information.
The requester might do better to ask for a list of toxic waste sites in his city, county, or state. It is more likely that existing records might contain this information. The requester might also want to tell the agency in the request letter exactly what information is desired. This additional explanation may help the agency to find a record that meets the request.
Many people include their telephone number with their requests. Some questions about the scope of a request can be resolved quickly when an agency employee and the requester talk. This is an efficient way to resolve questions that arise during the processing of FOIA requests.
It is to everyone's advantage if requests are as precise and as narrow as possible. The requester benefits because the request can be processed faster and cheaper. The agency benefits because it can do a better job of responding to the request. The agency will also be able to use its resources to respond to more requests. The FOIA works best when both the requester and the agency act cooperatively.
Reasons Access May Be Denied Under the FOIA
Exemption 1: Classified Documents
Exemption 2: Internal Personnel Rules and Practices
Exemption 3: Information Exempt Under Other Laws
Exemption 4: Confidential Business Information
Exemption 5: Internal Government Communications
Exemption 6: Personal Privacy
Exemption 7: Law Enforcement
Exemption 8: Financial Institutions
Exemption 9: Geological Information
The Sunshine Act enumerates ten specific exemptions for categories of information that need not be disclosed, including:
Information relating to national defense,
Related solely to internal personnel rules and practices,
Related to accusing a person of a crime,
Related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy,
Related to investigatory records where the information would harm the proceedings,
Related to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution, and
Related to the agency's participation in legal proceedings.
Therefore, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), would be exempt being that more than one exemption is met here.
The Equal Access to Justice Act applies in that if and when a private party who was subject to an unjustified federal administration agency action the right to sue and recover attorneys’ fees and costs. This was the case for example in which: A Court Orders Drug Enforcement Administration to Pay Hemp Industry Plaintiff's Legal Bills: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps to Receive $21,265 Reimbursement
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — U.S. COURT of APPEALS for the NINTH CIRCUIT — The main fiscal sponsor of the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) landmark court victory against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) protecting sales of hemp foods in the United States learned this week they won another legal battle. Ruling under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered the DEA to pay $21,265 to Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps to compensate them for a portion of their legal fees in HIA v. DEA.
"The EAJA allows an award of attorneys fees in this situation only where the court finds the Government's position was not 'substantially justified,'" said Joe Sandler, HIA's counsel in the case.
"By making this award, the Court has basically decided that DEA's attempt to outlaw hemp foods never had any real legal merit."
The Privacy Act applies of course to the DEA in that there are in depth investigations that take place so the record keeping in such agency is necessary and relevant to accomplish a legitimate agency purpose. The three branches of government which are executive, legislative and judicial all relate to the DEA in some sort of way. The power of the Executive branch is vested in the President of the United States, who also acts as head of state and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The President is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws written by Congress and, to that end, appoints the heads of the federal agencies. The Executive power is to prosecute violations of statutes and administrative rules and orders. This includes the power to investigate suspected violations, issue administrative subpoenas, and conduct administrative
searches.
The Legislative Branch consists of the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together form the US Congress. The Constitution grants Congress the sole authority to enact legislation and declare war, the right to approve or reject many presidential appointments and substantial investigative powers. There are four powers that make up the Legislative Power, the first is substantive rule making which is to adopt rules that advance the purpose of the statutes that the agency is empowered to enforce. These rules have the force of law. Public notice and participation are required. The second one is interpretive rule making which is to adopt rules that interpret statutes, they do not establish new laws and neither public notice nor participation is required. The third one is statements of policy, it announces a proposed course of action the agency plans to take in the future. The final one is licensing, that is to grant licenses to applicants and to suspend or revoke licenses.
The members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Article III of the Constitution, which establishes the Judicial Branch, leaves Congress significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the federal judiciary. Even the number of Supreme Court Justices is left to Congress — at times there have been as few as six, while the current number (nine, with one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices) has only been in place since 1869. The Constitution also grants Congress the power to establish courts inferior to the Supreme Court, and to that end Congress has established the United States district courts, which try most federal cases, and 13 United States courts of appeals, which review appealed district court cases.
The Judicial Power is to adjudicate cases through an administrative proceeding this includes the power to issue a complaint, hold a hearing by an administrative law judge, and issue an order deciding the case and assessing remedies. There was a recent high profile case which involves a leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel named “El Chapo”. Here is the statement released by the DEA in regards to his capture: “The arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera was a significant achievement for Mexico and a major step forward in our shared fight against transnational organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking. We congratulate the Mexican people and their government on the capture of the alleged head of the Sinaloa Cartel. The DEA and Mexico have a strong partnership and we will continue to support Mexico in its efforts to improve security for its citizens and continue to work together to respond to the evolving threats posed by transnational criminal organizations.” I can only imagine the lengthy process he will go through in the courts for his crimes.