Amicus Briefs
Moats v. National Credit Union Administration Board
CASE SUMMARY
NCLA urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse an order depriving former Texas credit union CEO Jeffrey Moats of a jury trial. The NCUA prosecuted and punished Mr. Moats for alleged misconduct in its in-house tribunal overseen by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) it appointed. NCLA asks the Fifth Circuit to correct this violation of core constitutional rights.
The NCUA sought $4 million in restitution from Mr. Moats, at least $1 million in “civil penalties,” and an order permanently barring him from serving as a director, officer, or otherwise participating in the conduct of the affairs of any insured depository institution. Despite seeking such exorbitant penalties, the NCUA does not use juries in prosecuting and judging cases like Mr. Moats’s. Instead, its three-member Board of Directors makes the final decision on liability and penalties after in-house adjudication, relying on ALJs’ findings of fact. Mr. Moats has correctly argued that this strips him of his Seventh Amendment right to be tried before a jury and his right to a hearing in an Article III court, rather than by a government bureaucrat.
The district court in Mr. Moats’ case dismissed his appeal of the Administration’s actions against him, ruling that Section 1786(k)(1) of Title 12, passed by Congress, expressly strips federal courts of jurisdiction to evaluate Mr. Moats’s constitutional claims. But the Seventh Amendment does not just uphold the jury trial right; it also directly limits Congress’s power to set up administrative tribunals. Congress lacks Article III judicial power in the first place, so it cannot get around the Seventh Amendment by taking away courts’ jurisdiction over cases brought by Mr. Moats and countless other Americans.