Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-859new_kjfm.pdf
Page Number: 37

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

5 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

six months to file [her] initial decision.”  In re John Thomas 
Capital  Management  Group  LLC,  SEC  Release  No.  9631, 
p. 1 (Aug. 13, 2014).  The reason?  The “ ‘size and complexity 
of the proceeding.’ ”  Id., at 2.  When that decision eventu-
ally arrived seven months after the hearing, the ALJ agreed
with the SEC on every charge.  See App. to Pet. for Cert. 
155a–156a, 212a. 

Mr. Jarkesy had the right to appeal to the Commission,
but appeals to that politically accountable body (again, the
same body that approved the charges) tend to go about as
one might expect.  The Commission may decline to review
the ALJ’s decision.  §201.411(b)(2).  If it chooses to hear the 
case, it may increase the penalty imposed on the defendant. 
Thornley  286.  A  defendant  unhappy  with  the  result  can 
seek further review in court, though that process will take
more time and money, too.  Nor will he find a jury there, 
only a judge who must follow the agency’s findings if they
are supported by “ ‘more than a mere scintilla’ ” of evidence. 
Biestek v. Berryhill, 587 U. S. 97, 103 (2019). 

Mr.  Jarkesy  filed  an  appeal  anyway.    The  Commission 
agreed to review the ALJ’s decision.  It then afforded itself 
the better part of six years to issue an opinion.  And, after 
all that, it largely agreed with the ALJ.  See App. to Pet. for 
Cert. 71a–74a.  None of this likely came as a surprise to the
SEC employees in the Division of Enforcement responsible
for pressing the action against Mr. Jarkesy.  While his ap-
peal was pending, employees in that division—including an 
“ ‘Enforcement Supervisor’ ” in the regional office prosecut-
ing Mr. Jarkesy—accessed confidential memos by the Com-
missioners’  advisors  about  his  appeal.    See  SEC,  Second 
Commission Statement Relating to Certain Administrative
Adjudications 3 (June 2, 2023). 

II 
A 

If administrative proceedings like Mr. Jarkesy’s seem a