FCC v. AT&T · ¶38

Given these features of the Commission's enforcement scheme, the Commission may issue forfeiture orders without the involvement of a jury. Like the ICC's order in Meeker and the auditor's report in Peterson, the Commission's orders do not “settle” their recipients' legal obligations. Par sons, 3 Pet., at 447. Nor do the Commission's orders make any “ultimate determination[s]” of fact. Peterson, 253 U. S., at 310. The Government cannot collect before it successfully proves its case to a jury. At day's end, a forfeiture order issued under § 503(b)(4) is simply the Commission's own determination. Its only legal effect is to enable the Department of Justice to file a suit to recover for the carriers' suspected violations.

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