Nebraska Man Asks SCOTUS to Rehear Question on Customs Broker License Exam

Nebraska resident Byungmin Chae submitted a petition for rehearing en banc to the U.S. Supreme Court in a renewed attempt to get the high court to hear his appeal of the 2018 customs broker license exam. Chae, mostly representing himself, has seen his case through multiple rounds of appeal at CBP, the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ending up one correctly answered question shy of a passing grade (Byungmin Chae v. Janet Yellen, U.S. Sup. Ct. # 23-200). The court received the Nov. 17 petition on Dec. 18.

In the rehearing motion, the pro se petitioner argued that his answer choice for question 27, which concerned types of mail articles not subject to examination or inspection by CBP, was correct. The U.S. said the correct answer is "C. Diplomatic pouches bearing the official seal of France and certified as only containing documents," while Chae selected "B. Mail packages addressed to officials of the U.S. Government containing merchandise" (see 2309060039). The Supreme Court previously declined to review the question (see 2310300023).

Unlike his previous submissions to the appellate court and the high court, which were letters that lacked traditional legal formatting, Chae's rehearing petition includes legal citations and traditional formatting.

Chae argued in the brief that both answers B. and C. for question 27 are correct. The brief said that per 19 CFR § 7.2 the "insular possessions of the United States other than Puerto Rico are also American territory but, because those insular possessions are outside the customs territory of the United States, those mail packages addressed to officials of the U.S. government containing merchandise are not subject to examination or inspection" by CBP.

Additionally, as laid out in 19 CFR § 148.83(a) the contents of diplomatic pouches are restricted to "diplomatic documents and articles" meant solely for official use, he said, arguing there is no evidence for denying Chae credit for the question. The question is "at best ambiguous," and at worst, Chae has shown that he "understands the CBP's position on relevant rules and regulations," the brief said. The argument suggests mail packages to government officials equate to diplomatic documents meant for official use.