Supreme Court rules to limit powers of SEC

The Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a blow to the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission in a case that challenged the constitutionality of its enforcement proceedings on Seventh Amendment grounds.

The 6-3 opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts held that people facing civil penalties from the SEC can seek to move their cases to a federal trial court and be tried by a jury rather than being forced to have their cases weighed by in-house administrative law judges. The ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy marked a conservative win in a high court term with several key cases that challenged agency powers.