Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/19pdf/19-631_2d93.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  591 U. S. ____ (2020) 

5 

Opinion of KAVANAUGH, J. 

Federal  Communications  Commission  can  seek  forfeiture 
penalties  for  willful  or  repeated  violations  of  the  statute. 
§503(b). 

B 
Plaintiffs in this case are the American Association of Po-
litical Consultants and three other organizations that par-
ticipate in the political system.  Plaintiffs and their mem-
bers make calls to citizens to discuss candidates and issues, 
solicit donations, conduct polls, and get out the vote.  Plain-
tiffs believe that their political outreach would be more ef-
fective  and  efficient  if  they  could  make  robocalls  to  cell 
phones.3  But because plaintiffs are not in the business of 
collecting  government  debt,  §227(b)(1)(A)(iii)  prohibits 
them from making those robocalls. 

Plaintiffs filed a declaratory judgment action against the 
U. S.  Attorney  General  and  the  FCC,  claiming  that 
§227(b)(1)(A)(iii) violated the First Amendment.  The U. S. 
District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina de-
termined that the robocall restriction with the government-
debt  exception  was  a  content-based  speech  regulation, 
thereby triggering strict scrutiny.  But the court concluded 
that the law survived strict scrutiny, even with the content-
based  exception,  because  of  the  Government’s  compelling
interest in collecting debt.

The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated
the judgment.  American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. 
v. FCC, 923 F. 3d 159 (2019).  The Court of Appeals agreed
with the District Court that the robocall restriction with the 
government-debt exception was a content-based speech re-
striction.  But the court held that the law could not with-
stand  strict  scrutiny  and  was  therefore  unconstitutional. 
The Court of Appeals then applied traditional severability 

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3 Plaintiffs have not challenged the TCPA’s separate restriction on ro-

bocalls to home phones.  See 47 U. S. C. §227(b)(1)(B).