Despite 5th Circuit Win, AT&T Asks SCOTUS to Hear Consolidated Data Fine Case
The U.S. Supreme Court should resolve a circuit split over whether the FCC properly handed down fines against AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile for violating FCC data rules, AT&T said Friday in a filing at the court. Verizon challenged at SCOTUS a September decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholding a $46.9 million fine (see 2511170035). In August, the D.C. Circuit upheld a similar fine against T-Mobile (see 2508150044), while the 5th Circuit earlier rejected one imposed on AT&T (see 2504180001).
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The government challenged the 5th Circuit decision at SCOTUS, and AT&T said the cases should be combined and heard. The three appellate courts decided differently on the implications of SEC v. Jarkesy, a 2024 case in which justices found that when the SEC seeks civil penalties against a defendant for securities fraud, the Seventh Amendment entitles the defendant to a jury trial, and the agency must bring the action in federal court. The historically conservative 5th Circuit decided in favor of AT&T based in part on Jarkesy.
SCOTUS “should grant both cases, consolidate them for briefing and oral argument, and realign the parties so that the carriers are on one side and the Commission is on the other,” AT&T said. The carrier also recognized that Solicitor General John Sauer endorsed the FCC challenge, and SCOTUS “typically grants the Solicitor General’s request to review a judgment invalidating agency action as unconstitutional.”
The government seeks review “only of the question of whether DOJ’s ability to bring a collection action in district court cures the constitutional violation -- on the theory that AT&T could have disregarded the forfeiture order’s directive to pay the civil penalty and, assuming DOJ brought suit, demanded a jury trial,” AT&T noted. The 5th Circuit “was right to reject that argument.”