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Federal Trade Commission v. Credit Bureau Center, LLC, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 18-2847, 18-3310 · judgment August 21, 2019


Certiorari granted · July 9, 2020
Pre-decision estimate: 8% cert probability (95% interval 4%–15%)

Before the decision, about 2× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a Seventh Circuit decision below, and down for a business respondent.

Question presented

Consolidated with 19-508. Under Section 13 (b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 53(b), the Commission may sue those who violate the laws under its purview in federal district court. The statute authorizes district courts in such cases to issue "a permanent injunction." Seven courts of appeals have held that district courts exercising that authority may enter an injunction that requires defendants to return to the victims of their wrongdoing funds obtained through their illegal activity. One has held the opposite. The question presented is: Whet her Section 13(b) authorizes district courts to enter an injunction that orders the return of unlawfully obtained funds.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Alden Francis Abbott
U.S. Federal Trade Commission

For respondent
Neal Kumar Katyal
Milbank LLP

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 6 conferences

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Proceedings

  1. May 03 2021
    Petition DENIED. Justice Barrett took no part in the consideration or decision of this petition.
  2. Apr 26 2021
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/30/2021.
  3. Nov 09 2020
    This case is no longer consolidated with No. 19-508, AMG Capital Management, LLC v. Federal Trade Commission. The July 9, 2020 order granting the petition for a writ of certiorari in this case is vacated. Justice Barrett took no part in the consideration of this order.
  4. Jul 09 2020
    Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 19-508 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
  5. Jul 09 2020
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 19-508. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 19-508. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  6. Jul 08 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 7/8/2020.
  7. Jun 29 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 7/1/2020.
  8. Jun 22 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/25/2020.
  9. Jun 22 2020
    Supplemental brief of respondents Credit Bureau Center, LLC, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  10. Apr 28 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/15/2020.
  11. Apr 28 2020
    Reply of petitioners Federal Trade Commission filed. (Distributed)
  12. Apr 14 2020
    Brief of respondents Credit Bureau Center, LLC, et al. in opposition filed.
  13. Apr 02 2020
    Response Requested. (Due May 4, 2020)
  14. Apr 01 2020
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/17/2020.
  15. Jan 30 2020
    Brief amici curiae of State of Illinois et al. filed.
  16. Jan 20 2020
    Conditional Cross Petition for a Writ of Certiorari of Credit Bureau Center, LLC, et al. not accepted for filing. (January 22, 2020)
  17. Dec 19 2019
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due January 30, 2020)
  18. Nov 08 2019
    Application (19A517) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from November 19, 2019 to December 19, 2019, submitted to Justice Kavanaugh.
  19. Nov 08 2019
    Application (19A517) granted by Justice Kavanaugh extending the time to file until December 19, 2019.