Securities & Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy
The Conclusion
**The Supreme Court held 6-3 that the SEC cannot use administrative law judges to adjudicate securities fraud cases, as this violates the Seventh Amendment right to jury trial.** The decision blocks the SEC, FTC, NLRB, and other agencies from routing common-law fraud claims through administrative proceedings to sidestep the jury trial guarantee.
No circuit court data for this case.
Case Analysis
Overview
The SEC has its own in-house judges, administrative law judges, who hear securities fraud cases and can impose large civil penalties without ever putting the case before a jury. George Jarkesy, a hedge fund manager charged with fraud, argued this deprives defendants of their Seventh Amendment jury trial right. The Supreme Court agreed 6-3: the government can't route cases that look like common-law fraud suits through an administrative process to avoid the jury trial guarantee. The decision has broad implications for how the SEC, FTC, NLRB, and other agencies enforce rules.
Conclusion
**The Supreme Court held 6-3 that the SEC cannot use administrative law judges to adjudicate securities fraud cases, as this violates the Seventh Amendment right to jury trial.** The decision blocks the SEC, FTC, NLRB, and other agencies from routing common-law fraud claims through administrative proceedings to sidestep the jury trial guarantee.
Notes
OT2023. Added via SCOTUS bulk import 2026-05-14
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