FCC Authority to Issue Fines Questioned

Last year, the Supreme Court in SEC v. Jarkesy ruled that administrative agencies can’t issue a fine without giving an entity the right to a jury trial to dispute the monetary penalty.  Based on this case, the U.S Court of Appeals overturned a $57 million fine on AT&T that was imposed by the FCC for not protecting location data for its mobile phone users.

It is not clear whether this case will be extended to fines imposed on broadcasters.  Some fines, such as operating a PIRATE Radio station, are established by statute.  In addition, in many instances, the FCC is subject to de novo review by a federal district court.  In other words, entities that receive fines (Notice of Apparent Liability) from the FCC have the ability to go to federal court to get them reviewed. 

FCC Commissioner Simington has routinely dissented from all FCC fines.  He notes that the FCC’s fining authority should be reviewed.  While Chairman Brendan Carr has not opposed the issuing of fines, the AT&T case raises important questions about the FCC’s authority in this area.  This does not mean the FCC is precluded from issuing fines to broadcasters for violations.  Rather, it simply raises the beginning of a potential legal question.  Stay tuned.

You can see Commission Simington’s statement regarding fines in a typical case here.

You can see the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision in ATT vs. FCC here.

 You can see the Supreme Court’s decision in SEC v. Jarkesy here.