Supreme Court takes case that could strip FCC of authority to issue fines

"The Supreme Court will hear a case that could invalidate the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue fines against companies regulated by the FCC. AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile challenged the FCC's ability to punish them after the commission fined the carriers for selling customer location data without their users' consent. AT&T convinced the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to overturn its fine, while Verizon lost in the 2nd Circuit and T-Mobile lost in the District of Columbia Circuit."

"The carriers' cases against the FCC rely on the Supreme Court's June 2024 ruling in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, which held that a similar but not identical SEC system for issuing fines violated the right to a jury trial. The conservative-leaning 5th Circuit appeals court decided that the FCC violated AT&T's rights while "act[ing] as prosecutor, jury, and judge." But the 2nd Circuit and District of Columbia Circuit courts found that each carrier could have obtained a jury trial if it simply decided not to pay the fine."

"In 2024, the FCC fined the big three carriers a total of $196 million for location data sales revealed in 2018, saying the companies were punished "for illegally sharing access to customers' location information without consent and without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure." Carriers challenged in three appeals courts, arguing that the fines violated their Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial."

The Supreme Court granted review of consolidated petitions from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile challenging the FCC's authority to impose fines after the agency penalized carriers for selling customer location data without consent. The disputes stem from location-data disclosures revealed in 2018 and a 2024 enforcement that imposed $196 million in fines on the three carriers. Appeals courts split: the 5th Circuit vacated AT&T's fine, criticizing the FCC's role, while the 2nd and D.C. Circuits upheld enforcement, noting carriers could have pursued jury trials by refusing to pay. The carriers invoke the Seventh Amendment and the Court's Jarkesy precedent.

Read at Ars Technica