ANALYSIS: Axon’s SCOTUS Attack May Pose a Threat to the FTC

A seemingly technical challenge to the Federal Trade Commission based on exhaustion of administrative remedies could upend the structure of the FTC’s enforcement efforts.

Former Solicitor General Paul D. Clement filed a petition for writ of certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court July 20 on behalf of Axon Enterprise Inc., seeking to reverse lower court holdings that Axon must complete the FTC’s administrative enforcement process before challenging the constitutionality of that process in court.

Clement’s petition also asks the court to reach the merits of Axon’s challenge to the FTC’s administrative enforcement structure, which an Arizona federal court and ...