NCLA Asks SCOTUS to Safeguard Jury Trial Rights in FCC Penalty Cases - Inside Towers

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed a brief in FCC v. AT&T and Verizon Communications v. FCC on Thursday, urging the Supreme Court to rule that telecoms have a right to a jury trial when FCC levies fines against them for allegedly failing to protect customer data. The NCLA is a nonprofit civil rights group that protects constitutional freedoms.

The Communications Act allows the FCC to order companies to pay fines without the opportunity for a jury trial, according to the legal group. The NCLA asks the Justices to strengthen jury trial rights and “overturn this violation. Trial by bureaucrat does not—and cannot under our Constitution—replace the right to trial by jury,” states NCLA President Mark Chenoweth.

The FCC fined AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile in 2024 a total of $196 million for location data sales revealed in 2018, Inside Towers reported. It said the companies were punished “for illegally sharing access to customers’ location information without consent and without taking reasonable measures to protect that information against unauthorized disclosure.”

Carriers challenged in appeals courts, arguing the fines violated their Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

While the Supreme Court is only taking up the AT&T and Verizon cases, the T-Mobile case would be affected by whatever ruling the Supreme Court issues, according to Ars Technica. T-Mobile is seeking a rehearing in the District of Columbia Circuit, an effort that could be boosted or rendered moot by whatever the Supreme Court decides.

By Leslie Stimson, ***Inside TowersWashington Bureau Chief*