Supreme Court to decide if FCC can fine companies without a jury trial

AT&T and Verizon may avoid paying $103.9 million in fines if the Supreme Court rules that the FCC's in-house penalty process violates the Seventh Amendment. The FCC fined AT&T $57 million and Verizon $46.9 million for failing to protect confidential customer location data. These penalties were issued as forfeiture orders, which direct companies to pay within 30 days without a prior hearing or trial. Under the Communications Act, companies receiving such orders have two options: pay the fine and seek review in a federal appeals court, or refuse to pay and wait up to five years for the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit to collect the fine. A jury trial is only available during that subsequent DOJ lawsuit. The Supreme Court will now determine if this "penalty-now-trial-later" approach satisfies the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial in suits where $20 or more is at stake.