Supreme Court Upholds FCC's $100 Million Privacy Penalty Power in 8-1 Ruling
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 4
Supreme Court Upholds FCC's $100 Million Privacy Penalty Power in 8-1 Ruling
3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Jun 4
Summary
An 8-1 Supreme Court ruling preserved the FCC's ability to pursue penalties against telecom carriers after Verizon and AT&T challenged roughly $100 million in fines over customer location-data safeguards.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the FCC orders did not immediately require payment, so the companies' jury-trial rights were not yet violated under the agency's process.
The Trump administration defended the fines as a key enforcement tool but also conceded that carriers need not pay right away, a shift that gives companies more room to fight penalties.
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying he would have gone further in curbing agency power, while advocates said a broader win for the carriers could have weakened similar enforcement systems across federal regulators.
The decision stands out because the court's conservative majority has recently cut back agencies' authority, including by overturning Chevron deference and limiting the SEC's in-house fraud enforcement.