Today, alongside its fellow intervenors, Public Knowledge submitted an en banc petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The petition asks the full court to reconsider a recent panel decision that misinterprets the Communications Act’s clear statutory language by classifying broadband as an “information service” rather than a “telecommunications service,” conflicting with precedent from other circuits.
The following can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Legal Director at Public Knowledge:
“When it reversed the Chevron precedent that gave broad discretion to regulatory agencies, the Supreme Court instructed lower courts to interpret the law according to its plain meaning, applying ordinary tools of statutory construction.
“Instead of doing this, the Sixth Circuit panel shoehorned its policy preferences into the law, in a slapdash and inconsistent opinion that, if left unchallenged, will eliminate the ability of future regulators to promote universal, affordable competitive broadband access, and could even threaten the openness of the telephone network itself.
“Public Knowledge and its allies are part of this case as intervenors, which gives us the right to appeal even if the new Federal Communications Commission leadership is comfortable with an outcome that leaves broadband users with no consumer protections at the federal level. One silver lining of the Supreme Court’s recent upheaval of decades of administrative law, if it can be called that, is that courts do not need to accord Chairman Brendan Carr’s FCC any meaningful deference. We hope the Sixth Circuit reverses the panel’s erroneous decision.”
You may view the filing for more information.
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.