Elon Musk and Mark Cuban are questioning the SEC’s practice of conducting in-house trials without juries, raising concerns about fairness and due process. Learn more about their joint amicus brief to the Supreme Court.
Elon Musk and Mark Cuban have united to challenge the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on its use of in-house trials without juries. In a joint amicus brief submitted to the Supreme Court, they highlight the case of SEC vs. Jarkesy, where plaintiff George Jarkesy argued that his Seventh Amendment rights were violated due to the SEC’s use of an internal adjudication process. This process is led by an administrative law judge appointed by the SEC, and Musk and Cuban argue that it raises concerns about impartiality and due process.
The shift towards in-house trials by the SEC began in 2013-2014 after unsuccessful insider trading cases before juries. Doubts were further cast on the fairness of these trials when the SEC admitted to personnel wrongly accessing files in various cases, including Jarkesy’s, in April 2022.
Musk and Cuban appeal to the Supreme Court to maintain the 5th Circuit’s decision in favor of Jarkesy, arguing that the SEC’s preference for administrative proceedings over federal court juries goes against its mandate and poses risks to investors and the markets.
