AMG Capital Management

The Supreme Court corrects the ftc's unlawful behavior
(Now the FTC Has introduced a bill to get this abusive power back)

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking an expansion of power and consumer redress authority to solve a problem that they already have a remedy for under §19 of The Federal Trade Commission Act.

For years, the FTC has been using §13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act to shut down businesses, freeze business owner assets, and leave those business owners with no money to even defend themselves. This is their playbook. To make matters worse, all of this is enforced immediately with no regard to Constitutional due process rights.

With the recent unanimous Supreme Court decision on April 22, 2021, it is apparent that the FTC has been proceeding illegally to freeze the assets of business owners, leaving those business owners without due process protections and often without adequate counsel. (See: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-508_l6gn.pdf)

Forecasting an unfavorable decision from the Supreme Court, the FTC introduced a bill (S. 4626) in the Senate in September 2020, requesting an amendment that would expand the language of §13(b) in order to use it as a substitute for §5 and §19. This is an effort to avoid the administrative procedures and limitations set forth in §19 by Congress.

If such a bill is passed, it will allow the FTC to continue to kill legitimate businesses and rob them of large sums of money before they have an opportunity to defend themselves. (See: Does the FTC Have Blood On Its Hands? An Analysis of FTC Overreach and Abuse of Power After Liu, 68 Buff. L. Rev. 1481 (2020). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/buffalolawreview/vol68/iss5/4 )

Note: According to the FTC's own stats and data, they only used around 5% of "redress and discourgement" monies to pay back consumers. This should raise concerns about why the FTC wants an easier path to financial remedies. (See: https://www.ftc.gov/reports/annual-highlights-2017/stats-and-data)

Please support the fight to oppose this bill by writing to your congressmen and congresswomen.

This bill should be opposed for the following reasons:

1. Congress has already authorized the FTC to seek monetary awards under §19 of the FTC Act, which affords businesses important procedural and substantive protections designed to ensure fair notice before an imposition of such financial remedies.
2. Without due process protections, the FTC can quickly kill businesses with asset freezes before the business has an opportunity to defend itself.
3. Such expansive power without proper protections will create fear and uncertainty among business owners, harming the American economy.

It is important to protect consumers from being scammed out of money. With that said, Congress has already appropriately provided a remedy for that with §19 while maintaining and upholding the rights of all U.S. citizens—business owners and consumers.

Many others have a similar view. See the eight amici curiae filed October 1-2, 2020 below: 

• ​Americans For Prosperity Foundation
• Chamber of Commerce of The United States of America, National Retail Federation, and Direct Selling Association
• Washington Legal Foundation and Allied Educational Foundation
• TechFreedom
• Surescripts
• The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
• The New Civil Liberties Alliance
• SBH A&I