AT&T’s $57 Million FCC Fine Vacated by Fifth Circuit

A Fifth Circuit panel vacated a $57 million penalty against AT&T Inc. Thursday, applying a recent US Supreme Court decision to find the Federal Communications Commission violated the telecom’s constitutional right to a jury trial.

The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in SEC v. Jarkesy guided the panel’s finding, it said.

“No one denies the Commission’s authority to enforce laws requiring telecommunications companies like AT&T to protect sensitive customer data,” Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan wrote. “But the Commission must do so consistent with our Constitution’s guarantees of an Article III decisionmaker and a jury trial.”

The case stems from an FCC ...