Supreme Court To Hear Case That Could Weaken FCC

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in early 2024 that could impact how much regulatory discretion the FCC has over the communications industry. The court agreed to hear the case of Relentless Inc., et al. v. Dept. of Commerce, et al. The case is about a federal rule requiring fishing companies to pay for government monitoring of their herring catches. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) challenged the rule as beyond the regulatory scope Congress gave the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries), which implemented the rule. While the case may be about fish monitors, it is also about the Chevron doctrine, which is a principle of administrative law that holds that courts should give deference to a regulatory agency’s subject matter expertise when it comes to interpreting unclear statutes. The lack of clarity most germane to the communications industry is whether the Federal Communications Commission has the remit from Congress to decide whether broadband is a Title I information service, which is not subject to common carrier regulation, or a Title II telecommunications service, which is.