5th Circuit Tosses FCC's $57 Million Fine Against AT&T
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned the FCC's $57 million fine imposed on AT&T, agreeing with the wireless carrier that the agency's in-house adjudication was unconstitutional. In its docket 24-60223 decision Thursday, the three-judge 5th Circuit panel…
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said its analysis is governed by the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy decision. And the court pointed to Jarkesy as it said the FCC was incorrect that its enforcement proceeding against AT&T falls under the "public rights" exception that lets Congress assign some matters to an agency instead of an Article III court. Common law suits presumptively concern "private rights" and must be adjudicated by Article III courts, they said. The judges said an in-house FCC proceeding "amputates the carrier’s ability to challenge the legality of the forfeiture order." "No one denies the Commission’s authority to enforce laws requiring telecommunications companies like AT&T to protect sensitive customer data," the judges said. "But the Commission must do so consistent with our Constitution’s guarantees of an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial." Hearing the case were Judges Catrina Haynes, Stuart Duncan and Cory Wilson, with Duncan penning the decision. T-Mobile and Verizon are similarly challenging fines brought against them in the same April 2024 enforcement action accusing the three wireless carriers of failing to safeguard data on customers' real-time locations.