Can the government deny you a jury trial—and then refuse to let you challenge that denial in federal court?

NCLA is asking the Supreme Court to hear Smith v. SEC, a case challenging the constitutional limits of administrative adjudication and the procedural barriers that can prevent Americans from asserting their rights.

On this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA President and Chief Legal Officer Mark Chenoweth and Senior Litigation Counsel John Vecchione are joined by Senior Litigation Counsel Russ Ryan to discuss the newly filed Supreme Court cert petition.

NCLA client Eric Smith was sanctioned through a FINRA disciplinary proceeding without a jury or an Article III judge. The SEC subsequently affirmed the sanctions after years of delay.

When Smith sought review in the Sixth Circuit, NCLA argued that the proceedings violated constitutional protections recognized by the Supreme Court in SEC v. Jarkesy. But the appeals court declined to consider the constitutional challenge because Smith had not first presented it to the SEC.

NCLA is asking the Supreme Court to resolve disagreements among federal appeals courts over whether Americans must raise structural constitutional objections before administrative agencies—and whether they can be excused from doing so when the agency has already made clear that the argument would be futile.

Mark, John, and Russ explain why this dispute matters far beyond Eric Smith, why administrative agencies should not be the gatekeepers of constitutional challenges to their own proceedings, and what happens next as NCLA asks the Justices to hear the case.