News Release
October 16, 2023
|
|
|
FTC Unilaterally Dismisses In-House Proceeding Seeking Outrageous Antitrust Penalties Against Axon Enterprise
ALF Praised For Filing Three Amicus Briefs Supporting Axon's Right To Meaningful Judicial Review Of Its Constitutional Challenge To FTC Administrative Enforcement Proceedings
|
|
"It’s not often the U.S. Supreme Court issues a unanimous decision and even more rare that the FTC abandons an enforcement action without consent decree or condition. But Axon did not achieve these remarkable results alone. I want to thank ALF for its unwavering support in filing not one, not two, but three amicus briefs supporting Axon’s constitutional claims at both the 9th Circuit and SCOTUS. These non-party briefs are critically important in protecting broader rights and detailing potentially dire consequences of unchecked government action, and we are grateful for ALF’s partnership in this endeavor."
-- Pam Petersen, VP Litigation / National Appellate Counsel, Axon Enterprise, Inc.
|
|
The Atlantic Legal Foundation—a champion of free enterprise, property rights, and limited and responsible government—filed three amicus briefs supporting the courageous efforts of Axon Enterprise, Inc. to mount a federal district court constitutional challenge to the structure of civil administrative enforcement proceedings pursued by the Federal Trade Commission in its own in-house “court.” ALF filed an amicus brief in support of Axon’s petition for rehearing en banc in the Ninth Circuit, an amicus brief in support of Axon’s petition for a writ of certiorari, and after the Supreme Court granted review, an amicus brief in support of Axon’s appeal.
On April 14, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous, favorable opinion, agreeing with Axon and ALF that federal district courts have subject-matter jurisdiction to consider structural constitutional challenges to in-house adjudications pursued by either the Federal Trade Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission. See ALF website, Supreme Court Victory In FTC & SEC Challenges (discussing Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC, 143 S. Ct. 890 (2023)).
Axon is a global public safety technology company that innovates and markets products such as body-worn cameras used by police. The FTC had filed an administrative complaint challenging, on antitrust grounds, Axon’s acquisition of a failing body-worn camera competitor. Axon refused to agree to an outrageous FTC consent order that would have required the company to undo its acquisition, create a “clone” competitor, finance this competitor with millions of dollars, and provide its proprietary intellectual property to the competitor. Instead, Axon filed a federal district court suit against the FTC raising constitutional challenges to the structure of FTC in-house adjudications. Axon appealed to the Supreme Court after the Ninth Circuit ruled that district courts lack subject-matter jurisdiction over such challenges, and that instead, an FTC civil enforcement target must endure the burdens, costs, and harms of an FTC in-house adjudicatory proceeding before obtaining judicial review, albeit in a federal court of appeals.
ALF argued in its amicus briefs that justice delayed is justice denied.
On October 6, 2023 the FTC unilaterally and unconditionally dismissed its complaint against Axon. See Axon Press Release. Thus, although the Supreme Court’s decision was jurisdictional, the FTC’s dismissal of its complaint affords Axon a complete victory.
|
|
Media Contact: Larry Ebner
|
|
About the Atlantic Legal Foundation
For more than 46 years, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan, public interest law firm, has advocated in the Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals, and state appellate courts for individual liberty, free enterprise, property rights, limited & responsible government, sound science in judicial & regulatory proceedings, and effective education, including parental rights and school choice.
|
New York Office
500 Mamaroneck Ave., Suite 320
Harrison, New York 10528
Washington, D.C. Office
1701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20006
California Office
1527 Stone Canyon Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90077
Main Number: (914) 834-3322
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
