Heslin Gallagher v. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.

This case presents recurring issues regarding the proper application of absolute immunity when SelfRegulatory Organizations that are registered with the Securities Exchange Commission conduct private busi­ ness. SRO absolute immunity decisions among and with­ in the courts of appeals are rife with inconsistencies. “The text of the Constitution contains no explicit grant of absolute immunity from legal process . . . ” Trump v. Vance, 140 S. Ct. 2412, 2434 (2020). Absolute Immunity does not appear in the Constitution or in any law passed by Congress. Congress, however, by way of James Madison said that “in suits at common law, between man and man, the trial by jury, as one of the best securities to the rights of the people, ought to remain inviolate.” 1 An­ nals of Cong. 435 (1789). The Questions Presented are:

1. Whether clarification is needed to resolve the conflicts among the various circuits when a SelfRegulatory Organization registered with the Securi­ ties & Exchange Commission invokes absolute im­ munity while engaged in its own private business.

2. Whether the Eleventh Circuit’s equivocal stand­ ard that “quasi-govemmental immunity” must be “piercefdl” prior to a jury trial, violates the Seventh Amendment’s preservation clause.