The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to impose financial penalties on telecommunications companies does not violate constitutional jury trial rights.

The decision rejected challenges from AT&T and Verizon, which argued the FCC’s administrative enforcement process bypassed their Seventh Amendment protections. The case centered on $104 million in FCC fines imposed in 2024 over allegations the carriers improperly handled customers’ real-time location data.

The Core Legal Question

AT&T and Verizon contended that the FCC’s framework violated their right to a jury trial because companies could pay fines and then challenge them in federal appeals courts rather than initially having cases decided by a jury. The carriers argued this process deprived them of constitutional protections guaranteed in civil cases involving substantial financial penalties.

The dispute stemmed from privacy violations uncovered in 2018, when the companies’ real-time location data was accessed by bounty hunters and unauthorized individuals. Both carriers challenged the FCC’s enforcement process after paying the penalties.

What the Court Decided

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts concluded that companies retained access to jury trials through an alternative path. The FCC’s penalty orders do not become legally binding until enforced in court, the Chief Justice explained.