Page 18: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2023)

Legal Beat

Structural Safeguards in

Coast Guard Suspension and

Revocation Proceedings

By Walter J. Brudzinski his article examines ten structural safeguards in tion of the mariner’s credential.

Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation (S&R) The IO then serves the Complaint on the mariner and ? les

Proceedings that ensure Coast Guard Administra- a copy with the Administrative Law Judge Docketing Cen-

T tive Law Judge (ALJ) decisional independence. ter. The mariner must ? le an Answer to the Complaint within

These safeguards separate potential agency in? uences from twenty days. In a typical case, once the Complaint is ? led and the ALJ decision making process and are critical to mariner served, and the mariner ? les an Answer, the Chief Adminis- due process and fundamental fairness. trative Law Judge, through the Hearing Docket Clerk, assigns

We will start with an overview of Coast Guard S&R pro- the case to an ALJ. ceedings, followed by brief discussions of the Administrative Occasionally, the mariner and the IO will enter into a settle-

Procedure Act, Administrative Law Judges, and U.S. Of? ce ment agreement early in the process and the ALJ will issue an of Personnel Management oversight. We will then examine Order consenting or rejecting the settlement agreement. In the the ten structural safeguards and conclude by identifying the absence of an early settlement agreement, the ALJ convenes outcomes these structural safeguards produce. a pre-hearing teleconference to select the date and place for hearing and establish a schedule for the parties to ? le their

Background Discussion on S&R Proceedings motions and exchange witness and exhibit lists. The case will

To promote safety at sea, sections 7701-7706 of title 46, then proceed to hearing like a civil trial without a jury as al-

U.S. Code provide mariner credentials may be suspended lowed in federal or state court. or revoked for misconduct, negligence, violation of law or At the close of the hearing, the parties are provided the regulation, use of dangerous drugs or convictions involving opportunity to submit post hearing briefs and proposed dangerous drugs, certain other criminal convictions, incompe- ? ndings and conclusions, unless waived. If both parties tence, a security risk threatening safety or security, or having waive that right, the ALJ my issue a decision from the committed sexual assault or sexual harassment. bench, in which case the decision takes effect immediately;

After a Coast Guard Investigating Of? cer (IO) collects suf- otherwise, the ALJ will issue a decision and order after re- ? cient evidence demonstrating and supporting that the mari- ceiving the post hearing briefs and proposed ? ndings and ner committed any of these acts, that IO initiates the formal conclusions. The parties may appeal the ALJ’s decision to suspension and revocation process by preparing a Complaint the Commandant and then to the National Transportation alleging the necessary facts to put the mariner on notice of the Safety Board, followed by an appeal to the appropriate U.S. offense(s) committed. The IO also includes a proposed sanc- Circuit Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court of the tion in the Complaint which is typically suspension or revoca- United States. 18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2023

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