FSF President Supports Streamlining Administrative Process at FCC
Streamlining administrative hearings, as proposed by the FCC Enforcement Bureau (see 1909060049), is a good idea but could have little effect, Free State Foundation President Randolph May said. “Truth be told, these days the FCC conducts relatively few evidentiary ‘trial-type’…
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proceedings before Administrative Law Judges, the type of proceedings in which the Commission’s streamlining proposals, in theory, might have the most practical impact,” May blogged. The exception is agency review of a proposed transaction, he said. “Nothing in the NPRM prevents the Commission from referring factual issues to an ALJ for a trial-type hearing, including cross-examination of witnesses, in a case in which the agency determines that such an evidentiary hearing is warranted,” he said: “But the Commission’s Notice clearly contemplates that, absent a directive to the contrary, most often factual disputes, even those involving motive, intent, or credibility issues, should be susceptible to resolution on a written record rather than in an oral hearing conducted by the administrative law judge or other presiding officer.”