FCC, Companies Argue Against Supreme Court Petition in Junk Fax Appeal
Parties petitioning the Supreme Court to undo the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's overturn of the FCC's junk fax rule would enjoy "limited practical consequences" from a decision in their favor, the agency told the high court…
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in a docket 17-351 filing Tuesday. That day was the deadline for responses to the petition for writ of certiorari. The FCC said the 2017 appellate court decision (see 1703310018) leaves open the possibility the agency could put forward the same junk fax rule under a different area of statutory authority. The FCC also said there's no merit to the petitioners' argument that there's a circuit court conflict over how to apply Chevron court deference to administrative actions in cases where Congress hasn't explicitly given power to or withheld it from an agency. In a separate brief in opposition, a group of private respondents -- primarily healthcare businesses -- said the appellate court made "a straightforward statutory-interpretation decision" and review of its decision wouldn't offer real benefit to the FCC or public since the agency hasn't suggested regulating faxed communications is high on its agenda. The private respondents said the petitioners -- who want to revive the junk fax rule to pursue Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory damages against the respondents -- likely wouldn't benefit anyway since the FCC waived retrospective application of its rule. Counsel for the petitioners didn't comment Wednesday.