AT&T and Verizon were penalized millions of dollars for what the agency said was a failure to protect consumer information. The companies say they were deprived of their right to a jury trial.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with a challenge to one of the primary ways the Federal Communications Commission enforces rules that protect consumer privacy, combat robocalls and regulate broadcasting.
In recent years, the agency has imposed millions of dollars in penalties against two major cellphone carriers, Verizon and AT&T, to punish the companies for what it says is their failure to protect customer data. The companies contend that those fines have violated their rights because they were assessed without the companies facing a trial in front of a jury.
After more than an hour of arguments on Tuesday, a majority of justices seemed inclined to side with the Trump administration in finding that the companies’ Seventh Amendment rights were not violated because while the F.C.C. imposed the fines, the companies had an ability to challenge them by refusing to pay and then proceeding to a jury trial in federal court.
If a company refuses to pay, the Justice Department can then file a lawsuit against it, which would then be considered by a jury.
“Why can’t you just not pay?” Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked the lawyer representing the companies.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suggested that an F.C.C. order imposing nonbinding fines was more a matter of reputational harm than illegal government conduct.