Supreme Court Slashes FTC’s Power to Seek Monetary Awards
- Ruling cuts tool agency used to collect billions for consumers
- Unanimous decision is a triumph for business trade groups
Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
The U.S. Supreme Court slashed the Federal Trade Commission’s power to seek monetary awards in court, throwing out a legal tool the consumer-protection agency has used to collect billions of dollars over the past decade.
The justices on Thursday unanimously said the FTC can’t seek consumer redress when it invokes a provision that lets the agency go straight to federal court to try to stop an alleged fraud. The ruling is a triumph for business trade groups, which had urged the court to curb the agency’s powers.