Cline v. Hawke

The majority today addresses complex issues regarding the possible preemptive effect of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (the “GLBA”) on state regulation of the insurance industry. To reach these issues, the majority6 reviews an advisory opinion of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”), which suggests that GLBA preempts certain provisions of West Virginia law. In reviewing a nonbinding OCC opinion, however, my good colleagues run afoul of the case or controversy mandate of Article III of the Constitution.7 Because we lack jurisdiction to render a decision under these…