Roberts Upholds Fcc Fines Against Verizon and AT&T
The Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration on Thursday in an 8-1 fcc ruling that upheld fines against Verizon and AT&T. The decision keeps alive a major enforcement tool the agency used after finding the carriers failed to safeguard customer location data. For customers, the case now leaves the penalties in place and strengthens the agency’s hand in future privacy enforcement.
Roberts Writes the Majority
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “The orders at issue did not settle the carriers’ legal obligations because, stated simply, they did not create an obligation to pay.” That language matters because the administration had argued the companies did not have to pay the penalties right away, and the court accepted that view by an 8-1 vote.
Verizon and AT&T’s $100 Million
Verizon and AT&T appealed combined penalties of $100 million after the Fcc said they failed to protect customer location data. The carriers argued the process was unconstitutional because it gave them little opportunity to tell their side of the story in front of a jury. The court’s ruling leaves that challenge unresolved for them and leaves the fines intact.
What Thomas Dissented On
Justice Clarence Thomas dissented. The case also reaches beyond these two wireless carriers, because the ruling preserves a method other federal agencies use when they press companies to comply before fighting the penalty in court. For telecom firms, that means the Fcc still has a working enforcement path when privacy rules are broken.
The open question is how far the court will let agencies go the next time a company says it should get a jury before paying. That issue is now more pressing because the court’s conservative majority has already limited federal agencies’ power in other cases.
