Darby v. Cisneros

Summary

The Court unanimously held that courts reviewing agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act may not impose additional exhaustion requirements once the action is final under § 10(c). An appeal to superior agency authority is required only when expressly mandated by statute or when an agency rule requires the appeal and makes the administrative action inoperative pending review. Because neither the governing statute nor HUD regulations required petitioners to pursue the optional administrative appeal, the Court reversed the Fourth Circuit and remanded. Justice Blackmun wrote the opinion; Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Scalia and Thomas joined all but Part III, which discussed legislative history. There were no separate opinions.