The US Supreme Court on Thursday said a tribunal system used by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street’s government watchdog and rule enforcer, was unconstitutional in a major victory for pro-business conservatives.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in the majority opinion that forcing defendants to go through the SEC’s in-house tribunals rather than a federal court violated the constitutional right to a jury trial.

The decision could possibly ripple through the US government, as several other regulatory agencies use similar tribunals.

“A defendant facing a fraud suit has the right to be tried by a jury of his peers before a neutral adjudicator,” Roberts wrote. “Rather than recognize that right, the dissent would permit Congress to concentrate the roles of prosecutor, judge, and jury in the hands of the Executive Branch. That is the very opposite of the separation of powers that the Constitution demands,” the opinion concluded.

https://insiderpaper.com/us-supreme-court-strips-sec-of-key-enforcement-power/