Several U.S. Supreme Court justices pondered what a case involving SEC in-house judges might mean for judges at other federal agencies during oral arguments April 23.
Justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg both asked how a decision in favor of investment adviser Raymond J. Lucia would affect administrative law judges (ALJs) at other agencies such as the Social Security Administration. Lucia, who was fined and barred from acting as an investment adviser after a 2013 Securities and Exchange Commission ALJ decision, contends the agency’s judges weren’t constitutionally appointed and that the decision against him should be vacated.
About 1,900 ...