Supreme Court Seems Inclined to Limit FCC’s Authority to Issue Fines

The Supreme Court on April 21 seemed poised to rein in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) power to levy large fines through its in-house adjudication system.

In the cases of FCC v. AT&T and Verizon Communications v. FCC, which were heard together, the telecommunications companies argued that provisions in the federal Communications Act of 1934 are unconstitutional. The statute that allows the FCC to use in-house adjudications to impose penalties without going to court violates the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in federal civil cases, the companies say.