AT&T and Verizon Just Lost 8-1 at the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court handed down a decisive win for federal enforcement on June 4, 2026, ruling 8-1 against AT&T and Verizon in a fight over how the FCC collects penalties. Two of the biggest telecom companies in the country tried to shut down the FCC’s forfeiture process on Seventh Amendment grounds. They lost almost across the board. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion of the Court. Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissent. The consolidated cases were FCC v. AT&T, No. 25-406, and Verizon Communications v. FCC, No. 25-567. The first outside read was simple: the Court rejected the...