FCC v. AT&T · ¶50

With respect to the first harm, as explained above, § 504(c) prohibits the Commission from using unresolved forfeiture proceedings to a regulated party's prejudice in subsequent Commission proceedings. See supra, at 542. It is true, of course, that the Commission may consider the facts underly ing the unresolved forfeiture in a future proceeding. See 12 FCC Rcd. 17087, 17103 (1997). But in that future proceeding, as the carriers recognize, the regulated party will have a chance to contest those facts anew. See Brief for the Carriers 47 (“a carrier may present evidence in a future proceeding to dispute an earlier factual finding”). The first proceeding, as the Government acknowledged, has no “preclusive effect” and the previously found facts are given no “special weight.” Tr. of Oral Arg. 79; see Brief for Federal Parties 42. There is nothing unconstitutional about the Commission finding…

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