Admininstrative Law – Federal Injunctive Relief Against State Administrative Orders

The increasing tendency of state legislatures to establish administrative agencies to regulate various specialized fields has created serious new problems for both courts and lawyers. In dealing with state administrative agencies, the federal courts have been confronted with the dual problem of protecting the individual’s constitutional rights and at the same time respecting the prerogatives of the states. The result has been the development of a “hands-off” policy in the federal courts, leaving the initial determination of rights to the state courts, and limiting the use of the federal injunctive power. The purpose of this comment is to indicate the limitations now placed on resort to federal injunctive relief against state administrative orders.