BREAKING – SCOTUS to Hear TCPA Case Involving Hobbs Act Deference

When the US Supreme Court struck down the Chevron doctrine earlier this year, there were lots of questions about how the TCPA would be affected and how the Hobbs Act deference works.

Long-time TCPAWorld denizens will recall the Supreme Court has looked at Hobbs Act deference in a TCPA case before in PDR Resources.  That case saw the Supreme Court punted on the issue of whether courts must defer to FCC’s interpretation of the TCPA.  The Court “found it difficult to answer this question” and sent the case back to the Court of Appeals.

Well, the Supreme Court appears to want to revisit this situation again and granted cert in McLaughlin Chiropractic Association v. McKesson Corp, another junk fax case.

But, it’s not about junk faxes, is it? The Question Presented by the Petitioner is very enlightening as to what the core issue of this case actually is:

“Whether the Hobbs Act required the district court in this case to accept the FCC’s legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act?”

HOO BOY.  That’s a doozy and could have massive impact.  And McLauglin isn’t the only Hobbs Act case on the court’s docket.  They also granted cert in two cases regarding the deference given to Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the Hobbs Act.

So, lots of issues around Hobbs Act coming from the Supreme Court in the upcoming term.

FREE ADVICE:  Don’t send unsolicited faxes to doctors or chiropractors.  The amount of TCPA cases from those groups is staggering.

Obviously, TCPAWorld will have more to say on this case soon, but it does seem like the same court that struck down Chevron is not done “clarifying” the role of the administrative state.