Amicus Brief - Open Markets Institute Files Amicus Brief Supporting Federal Trade Commission and Urging Supreme Court to Protect Consumers, Workers, and Independent Businesses
WASHINGTON — The Open Markets Institute today filed an amicus brief in a case before the Supreme Court, AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC. Open Markets urges the court to apply the settled law and protect the FTC’s ability to recover money from violators of competition and consumer protection law. Jay Himes of Labaton Sucharow generously served as Open Markets’ Supreme Court counsel.
Under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, the FTC “may seek, and after proper proof, the court may issue, a permanent injunction.” Injunction has an established — and broad — meaning that includes orders for lawbreakers to turn over improperly acquired money and property. The brief argues that AMG seeks to overturn this established, centuries-old meaning of an injunction in an effort to neuter the FTC’s power to recover ill-gotten gains from corporate lawbreakers.
In response, Open Markets Legal Director Sandeep Vaheesan released the following statement:
“Contrary to the assertions of AMG and its allies, courts have long issued injunctions requiring parties to undertake affirmative acts, including turning over illegally obtained property and money. By asking the court to ignore judicial precedent and practice, AMG aims to rob the FTC of the power to recover ill-gotten profits from corporate lawbreakers and aims to undermine its overall effectiveness under the next administration.
If the court accepts the specious arguments of AMG and narrows Section 13(b) — and the established definition of injunction — corporations would be free to profit from collusion, monopolization, and other unfair methods of competition. Consumers, workers, and businesses injured by antitrust violations obstacles face growing judicial obstacles to enforcing the law and obtaining compensation from corporate wrongdoers. Given diminished private antitrust enforcement, the Supreme Court must preserve the FTC’s full power to vindicate the public’s right to fair competition in the market.”
Read the full brief below or download here.
