FTC Faces Skeptical 5th Cir. as It Defends Agency Authority (1)

The Federal Trade Commission faced what appeared to be a dubious Fifth Circuit panel Monday, as it tries to fend off an attack on the agency’s in-house administrative procedures bought by Intuit Inc., the maker of TurboTax.

Making its life harder was SEC v. Jarkesy, the Supreme Court’s June decision preventing the Securities and Exchange Commission from bringing certain cases in its in-house court.

That decision held that antifraud securities laws are rooted enough in common law to require a jury to hear cases seeking civil penalties. Whether that applies to the FTC and its own ability to ...