WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The case of Texas accountant Michelle Cochran, seeking to hear her challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) internal decision-making process by a federal judge under Article III, was heard today at argues the US Supreme Court. In the Securities and Exchange Commission v. Michelle Cochran case, the court is considering a Fifth Circuit en banc Verdict that district courts have jurisdiction over structural constitutional challenges to the SEC’s administrative procedures—before these procedures take place. Former Attorney General Greg Garre of Latham & Watkins, who advocated for Ms Cochran, urged judges to uphold district court jurisdiction, an important bulwark of individual liberty and an important oversight of administrative power.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group, also represents Ms. Cochran, who originally lawsuit filed against the SEC in January 2019 to challenge the commission’s system of deciding enforcement actions with term-protected administrative judges (ALJs) employed by the prosecution. SEC ALJs are shielded from presidential impeachment by multiple layers of protection, which deters accountability and violates his constitutional duty to “ensure the diligent execution of laws.”

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 provided the SEC with regulatory powers that have grown over the decades since the agency’s inception. Originally, the stock exchange statute allowed the SEC to impose only a limited number of minor administrative sanctions without going to court. However, over time this authority has grown so much that nearly half of the major enforcement cases are now brought administratively before ALJs employed by the same agency prosecuting the case. Proceedings initiated by the SEC often drag on for several years and take such an enormous personal, financial and reputational toll that almost all targets (98%) – even those who vigorously…