Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-859new_kjfm.pdf
Page Number: 33

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

1 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

No. 22–859 
_________________ 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, 
PETITIONER v. GEORGE R. JARKESY, JR., 
 ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT 

[June 27, 2024]

  JUSTICE  GORSUCH,  with  whom  JUSTICE  THOMAS  joins, 
concurring. 
  The Court decides a single issue:  Whether the Securities 
and  Exchange  Commission’s  use  of  in-house  hearings  to 
seek civil penalties violates the Seventh Amendment right 
to a jury trial.  It does.  As the Court details, the government 
has historically litigated suits of this sort before juries, and 
the Seventh Amendment requires no less. 
  I write separately to highlight that other constitutional 
provisions  reinforce  the  correctness  of  the  Court’s  course.  
The  Seventh  Amendment’s  jury-trial  right  does  not  work 
alone.  It operates together with Article III and the Due Pro-
cess Clause of the Fifth Amendment to limit how the gov-
ernment may go about depriving an individual of life, lib-
erty, or property.  The Seventh Amendment guarantees the 
right to trial by jury.  Article III entitles individuals to an 
independent judge who will preside over that trial.  And due 
process promises any trial will be held in accord with time-
honored  principles.    Taken  together,  all  three  provisions 
vindicate the Constitution’s promise of a “fair trial in a fair 
tribunal.”  In re Murchison, 349 U. S. 133, 136 (1955). 

I 
  In  March  2013,  the  SEC’s  Commissioners  approved