Thomson v. State, Department of Environmental Regulation

This case illustrates how easily the rights of private citizens may become lost in the administrative process. The summary manner in which the Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) denied appellants a permit to construct a covered platform and walkway over submerged lands owned by them in state-regulated waters exalts administrative procedure over the substantive purpose of the statutes, which is to fairly, but not arbitrarily, protect the environment. DER has violated due process notions of fairness intended to be protected by the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 120, Florida…