3rd Circuit Rejects FCC en Banc Prometheus Appeal
A full panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the FCC’s en banc appeal of the Prometheus IV ruling, which vacated and remanded many broadcast ownership regulations, said an order (in Pacer) released Wednesday (see 1911070067). “No…
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judge who concurred in the decision having asked for rehearing and a majority of the judges of the circuit in regular service not having voted for rehearing, the petitions for rehearing by the panel and the Court en banc are denied,” said Judge Thomas Ambro in the order. Ambro presided over the three-judge panel that ruled against the FCC and wrote the majority opinion. Attorneys and officials speculated the agency might seek U.S. Supreme Court review if the en banc appeal were rejected. “The rapid dismissal of the FCC and industry rehearing petitions is hardly surprising in light of the weakness of their positions,” said Benton Institute for Broadband and Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman, who represented public interest entities against the FCC in the case: “Chairman [Ajit] Pai should stop posturing and do what the court has told the FCC to do, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times.” The FCC didn’t comment.