A Supreme Court Triumph for Trial by Jury

6/28/24
 
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from The Wall Street Journal,
6/27/24:

A 6-3 majority in SEC v. Jarkesy strikes a blow for liberty against the administrative state by ruling that federal agencies can’t deny defendants their day in federal court.

The day’s more important story for American liberty is the 6-3 majority’s landmark decision (SEC v. Jarkesy) limiting the power of administrative agencies to charge fraud cases in their own tribunals.

Hedge-fund founder George Jarkesy argued that a provision in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act letting the Securities and Exchange Commission seek penalties administratively for securities fraud violated the Seventh Amendment’s right to trial by jury. The six conservative Justices agreed based on the Seventh Amendment’s text and history.

The Court’s decision means most complaints by agencies seeking penalties will have to be charged in federal courts, where defendants enjoy more procedural rights including to legal discovery. Agencies also won’t benefit from a home-court advantage. They win nearly every case in their own tribunals, as you might expect.

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