ABSTRACT
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has legal authority to initiate and decide cases against firms it believes are engaging in unfair and deceptive business practices. The FTC also accused Cinderella of using high-pressure and misleading sales tactics on prospective students. The violations of due process in Cinderella are atypical, but otherwise the case provides a good illustration of evidentiary administrative adjudication. Administrative adjudication is frequently criticized from two perspectives: legal and administrative. Administrative law scholars generally disfavor policymaking through agency adjudication. When an agency is charged with regulating and implementing law in a new or uncertain field of public policy, incrementalism may be advantageous. Equity and compassion may be important factors in promoting the policy objective of helping people who need welfare and safety net programs to deal effectively with their economic and other problems. Equity entails the ability to make principled exceptions to general regulations when they serve the interests of both the government and the individual.
