Law360 (January 20, 2021, 8:41 PM EST) — Forcing an accountant to argue her challenge about the constitutionality of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission‘s administrative law judges in front of the same ALJ that heard her case is “disturbing and illogical,” the full Fifth Circuit heard on Wednesday.
Speaking on behalf of her client Michelle Cochran, New Civil Liberties Alliance attorney Peggy Little told the en banc court that a split appellate panel got it wrong when it ruled in August that Cochran would have to first make her constitutional arguments to the administrative law judge handling her case before appealing in federal court, as allowed by statute.