FCC v. AT&T · ¶51

Nor does the carrier's second concern—the risk of reputational harm—exact an unduly high cost for exercising their jury right. In the Sixth Amendment context, we have upheld “the imposition of . . . difficult choices” to forgo a jury trial by pleading guilty, even where the defendant faces a “certainty or probability” that the exercise of his trial right will result in a higher sentence if he is found guilty. Chaffn v. Stynch combe, 412 U. S. 17, 30–31 (1973) (internal quotation marks omitted). If the “certainty or probability” of an increased prison term upon conviction does not impermissibly burden the Sixth Amendment right, it is hard to see how the uncertain prospect of reputational harm unduly burdens the Seventh Amendment right. See id., at 30 (the Constitution does not “forbid[ ] every government-imposed choice . . . that has the effect of discouraging the exercise of…

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