US Law Week Sept. 2025 Circuit Split Review: FCC Under Scrutiny

Telecommunications carriers facing $196 million in Federal Communications Commission penalties are entangled in a growing circuit split over whether the agency’s activities infringe on the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

At issue are the procedures the FCC uses to assess the penalties. According to telecommunications attorney Jonathan Marashlian, the problem with the administrative structure is that the agencies “get to do it all.” They get to be “judge, jury, and executioner,” he said.

There’s also a guilt bias built into the procedures, added Marashlian, managing partner of Marashlian & Donahue, PLLC, The CommLaw Group. An agency’s investigation starts ...