I won’t let the cat too far out of the bag here but we have new FEDERAL legislation in the works on the traceback program–this thing just keeps getting more and more powerful–and we may or may not have a new FCC Chairwoman! Just huge huge news.

Those of you that attended the Summit heard me discuss both topics– but the Baron will cover these stories for TCPA.World in a bit.

But–potentially–the biggest news is that the Defendant in Lindenbaum has officially filed a cert. petition asking the US Supreme Court to weigh in on what the US Supreme Court meant when it decided AAPC last year.

Depending on whether the Supremes take this case up, the fate of the entire TCPA–and trillions of statutory exposure during the peak of the robocall epidemic– could hang in the balance here.

On the one hand it is remarkable that an issue went to the Supreme Court, came back down and ended up back in front of the Supreme Court within 18 months of the original ruling. On the other hand…TCPA.

The issue, of course, is that identified in Creasy–did the Supreme Court’s severance of the government-backed debt exemption operate retroactively and–if not–can the TCPA still be enforced during those timeframes that the statute was a content-specific exemption on speech.

More broadly, since the TCPA still contains numerous content-specific exemptions a “re-do” of AAPC might result in the entire TCPA being struck down this time (and that is exactly what should happen to an overly broad restriction on constitutionally-protected speech.)

The ruling has huge importance from a First Amendment perspective, and also just happens to be the most financially-impactful ruling in legal history. So… no big deal.

We’ll keep an eye on this and advise immediately in the (fairly unlikely) event the Supremes take this issue up. Again, I mean.

Petition here: Realgy-Lindenbaum – Supreme Court Petition without Appendix