Fifth Circuit Decision Puts FCC Forfeiture Authority in Question🔒 SSL Verified

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"On April 17, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a $57 million forfeiture order issued by the FCC against AT&T, ruling that the FCC violated the Constitution by imposing the penalty without first bringing the case to a federal court. The decision in AT&T v. FCC could significantly alter the FCC’s ability to impose monetary penalties through its internal enforcement process, and it may signal a broader judicial rethinking of administrative enforcement powers across federal agencies."

"The central question in AT&T was whether the FCC could lawfully impose a forfeiture penalty under its consumer privacy rules without first securing a judgment from a federal court. The Fifth Circuit answered in the negative, holding that AT&T was entitled to have the case heard by a jury in a federal court, rather than resolved solely through the FCC’s internal processes. The Fifth Circuit’s analysis heavily relies on the Supreme Court’s reasoning in Jarkesy v. SEC, where it held that the imposition of civil penalties for securities fraud by the SEC without a jury trial violates the Seventh Amendment."

"The FCC argued that, because AT&T is a common carrier and is therefore “affected with a public interest,” the forfeiture order fell within the “public rights” exception, which is a doctrine allowing an administrative agency to resolve certain matters internally, rather than in the courts, if they involve “public rights” instead of private ones. Under longstanding constitutional principles, claims involving private rights, such as disputes over property, contracts, or liability between the government and a private party, must generally be resolved in the courts. By contrast, public rights involve matters that historically have been determined by the executive or legislative branches, such as revenue collection, foreign commerce, immigration, tariffs, public lands, and patents. In AT&T, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the FCC’s attempt to impose its penalty against AT&T resembled the former, not the latter."

"The court rejected the FCC’s “common carrier” argument, reasoning that the “public rights exception” is a narrow one, and a presumption therefore exists in favor of a “private rights” determination. Deciding otherwise, the court explained, “would blow a hole in what is meant to be a narrow exception” because “[m]yriad enterprises might be said to implicate the ‘public interest.’”"

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