The proliferation of “technological advances” in the management of the administrative state is often hailed in an overly positive manner. Far be it for a practitioner not to support the widespread use of, for example, smartphones during the conduct of a regulatory proceeding and to oppose, in a number of instances, the proliferation of Zoom calls in lieu of face-to-face meetings. Consider the unrestricted use of smartphones during administrative hearings, devices that result in a constant interruption of thoughtful endeavors and the limitless use of Zoom calls which allow proponents of a particular position to escape any eye-to-eye contact with the opposition and prevents an assessment of the sense of the audience.
The bottom line is that the continued encouragement or acceptance of the unrestricted use of the aforementioned technologies in the conduct of the administrative state by federal agencies, administrative bodies and the courts constitutes a race to the bottom and should be addressed by scholars of the administrative state.
