Cite as: 512 U. S. 267 (1994)
Souter, J., dissenting
agencies whose customs had departed widely from each other." Wong Yang Sung v. McGrath, 339 U. S. 33, 41 (1950). That concern is directly implicated here, for under the Department's reading each agency would be free to decide who shall bear the burden of persuasion. Accordingly, the Department cannot allocate the burden of persuasion in a manner that conflicts with the APA.
IV
Under the Department's true doubt rule, when the evidence is evenly balanced the claimant wins. Under § 7(c), however, when the evidence is evenly balanced, the benefits claimant must lose. Accordingly, we hold that the true doubt rule violates § 7(c) of the APA.
Because we decide these cases on the basis of § 7(c), we need not address the Court of Appeals' holding in Greenwich Collieries that the true doubt rule conflicts with § 718.403 or with Mullins Coal, supra.
Affirmed.
Justice Souter, with whom Justice Blackmun and Justice Stevens join, dissenting.
For more than 50 years, in adjudicating benefits claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA), 33 U. S. C. § 901 et seq., and for more than 15 years under the Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA), 30 U. S. C. § 901 et seq. (1988 ed. and Supp. IV), the Department of Labor has applied the "true doubt" rule, providing that when the evidence submitted by a claimant and by a party opposing the award is of equal weight, the claimant wins. The rule thus places the risk of nonpersuasion on the opponent of the benefits claim. Today, the Court strikes the rule down as conflicting with § 7(c) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U. S. C. § 556(d), passed by Congress in 1946. I respectfully dissent.
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