Conservative Supreme Court justices at Monday’s oral argument in SEC v. Cochran appeared open to allowing entities to bring structural, constitutional challenges to federal agency actions in district court before a final judgment but expressed concern about the possible ramifications. A decision in the case could have implications for federal agencies (see 2211030063), particularly those with administrative law judges, such as the FCC. SCOTUS heard argument in a related case, Axon v. FTC, the same day (see 2211070049).

The Supreme Court on Monday debated the constitutionality of the FTC subjecting corporate defendants to internal agency review prior to district courts considering constitutional claims, in docket 21-86 (see 2211040042).

The U.S. District Court for Middle North Carolina in Winston-Salem, in a text-only order Friday (docket (1:22-cv-00727), granted Meta’s motion for a deadline extension to Dec. 8 to answer the Sept. 1 class action in which plaintiffs allege Facebook’s Pixel tracking tool violated their medical privacy.

The U.S. District Court for Eastern New York in Central Islip referred to Magistrate Judge Lee Dunst the motion to intervene by 30 resident property owners in Muttontown, New York, seeking to block AT&T’s construction of a 165-foot-tall cell tower in the village (see 2211030048), said an electronic order entered Thursday in docket 2:22-cv-05524. Any additional motions to intervene will be referred automatically to Dunst, it said.

U.S. District Judge James Cain for Western Louisiana in Lake Charles ordered parties in a cellphone RF radiation lawsuit Friday to file briefs by Dec. 5 on the plaintiffs’ request for leave to conduct discovery as they prepare to defend against the defendants’ motion to dismiss on grounds that the case is preempted by federal law.

The Supreme Court can restore due process and eliminate “kangaroo court” proceedings the FTC relies on in its antitrust and consumer protection cases, opponents of the agency argued last week ahead of Monday’s oral argument in Axon v. FTC (docket 20-15662).

Five telemarketing entities operating out of the same lower Manhattan address are responsible for causing hundreds of thousands of unwanted robocalls to be placed to Pennsylvania consumers, alleged Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) in a complaint Wednesday (docket 2:22-cv-01551) in U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania. The complaint alleges violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), plus state and federal unfair competition laws, but not the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because the five entities are not alleged to have placed the calls themselves.

Samsung wants the 13 class actions stemming from its summertime data breach transferred to and consolidated in the U.S. District Court for Nevada in Las Vegas, or alternatively the Southern District for New York in Manhattan, the company told the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) in a response Wednesday (case number 3005). The plaintiffs are evenly split into camps that want the cases moved to the Northern California district in San Francisco or the New Jersey district in Newark.

U.S. District Judge Edward Davila for Northern California in San Jose on Tuesday struck down Meta’s attempt to disqualify FTC Chair Lina Khan from the agency’s lawsuit against the company’s plans to buy Within Unlimited (docket 5:22-cv-04325) (see 2211010045).

An administrative law case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court Monday could have implications for challenges to federal agency decisions, including at the FCC and FTC, according to interviews with attorneys and academics. Cochran v. SEC (docket 21-1239), and similar case Axon Enterprise v. FTC (docket 21-86) concern whether parties have to wait for a final agency ruling before they can appeal to the courts.