Evan C. Zoldan, University of Toledo College of Law, has posted The Right to an Individualized Hearing:
Due process requires the government to provide notice and a hearing before depriving individuals of protected rights. This right—the right to an individualized hearing—is powerful. It gives individuals the ability to know why the government is taking action against them; and it lets them oppose the government, often by presenting facts and arguments to a neutral decision-maker. As a result, the right to an individualized hearing can help shape the government’s substantive aims—and it even can determine whether the government acts at all. But, despite its importance, there is a longstanding exception to the right to an individualized hearing. Individualized procedures are not required when the government acts on more than a few people at the same time. Although the right to an individualized hearing, and its exception, are fundamental to due process doctrine, the justification for the distinction between them has not been adequately explained. Accordingly, scholars disagree about the origin of the distinction and courts have struggled to delineate its contours.–Dan Ernst
This Article offers a new explanation for the scope of the right to an individualized hearing. The distinction is a relic of the once-pervasive “class legislation” doctrine. At one time, class legislation doctrine was the primary constitutional mechanism for courts to prevent arbitrary distinctions between groups—or the elevation of one “class” of society at the expense of another. Accordingly, class legislation doctrine helped courts enforce key rule of law values. Although class legislation doctrine has faded from its prominent place in constitutional law, shades of it survive in the right to an individualized hearing. Reconnecting the right to an individualized hearing with its class legislation origin will shed light on this mysterious but fundamental corner of due process doctrine. It also will help courts apply the right to an individualized hearing in ways that emphasize its crucial role in protecting rule of law values.
