The Supreme Court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission can penalize telecommunications companies without jury trials, rejecting constitutional challenges from AT&T and Verizon over $104 million in fines tied to customer location data misuse.
The decision resolved conflicting rulings across federal appeals courts about whether the FCC’s administrative enforcement process violated the Seventh Amendment. AT&T and Verizon faced penalties in 2024 after improperly selling customers’ real-time location information, a practice first exposed in 2018.
Constitutional Challenge
AT&T and Verizon argued that the FCC’s penalty process stripped them of constitutional protections afforded in civil cases involving substantial financial damages. The carriers contended that bypassing jury trials in administrative proceedings violated their Seventh Amendment rights to a jury in civil disputes.
A split in federal circuit courts prompted Supreme Court intervention. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with AT&T and invalidated its fine, while the 2nd Circuit upheld Verizon’s penalty, creating the conflicting precedent.
The Court’s Decision
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion upholding the FCC’s authority to impose forfeiture penalties through administrative proceedings without requiring jury trials. The ruling affirmed that the agency’s enforcement structure did not violate constitutional protections.
The decision establishes that federal regulators can continue using administrative penalties to enforce compliance with communications laws and customer protection standards.
