Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-859new_kjfm.pdf
Page Number: 36.0

4 

SEC v. JARKESY 

GORSUCH, J., concurring 

come  trial, the  Federal  Rules  of  Evidence  apply,  meaning 
that hearsay is generally inadmissible and witnesses must
usually testify in person, subject to cross-examination.  See 
Fed. Rule Evid. 802. 

litigants 

evidence.” 

exculpatory 

Things  look  very  different  in  agency  proceedings.    The 
SEC  has  a  responsibility  to  provide  “documents  that  con-
tain  material 
17  CFR 
§201.230(b)(3).  But the defendant enjoys no general right 
to discovery.  Though ALJs enjoy the power to issue subpoe-
like  Mr.  Jarkesy,
nas  on  the  request  of 
§201.232(a), they “often decline to issue [them] or choose to
significantly narrow their scope,” G. Mark, SEC and CFTC
Administrative  Proceedings,  19  U. Pa.  J.  Const.  L.  45,  68
(2016).  Oral  depositions  are  capped  at  five,  with  another
two  if  the  ALJ  grants  permission.    §201.233(a).    In  some 
cases, an administrative trial must take place as soon as 1 
month after service of the charges, and that hearing must 
follow within 10 months in even the most complex matters.
§201.360(a)(2)(ii).  The  rules  of  evidence,  including  their 
prohibition against hearsay, do not apply with the same ri-
gor they do in court.  §201.235(a)(5); see §201.230.  For that 
reason, live testimony often gives way to “investigative tes-
timony”—that  is,  a  “sworn  statement”  taken  outside  the 
presence of the defendant or his counsel.  §201.235(b). 

How did all this play out in Mr. Jarkesy’s case?  Accom-
panying  its  charges,  the  SEC  disclosed  700  gigabytes  of 
data—equivalent to between 15 and 25 million pages of in-
formation—it had collected during its investigation.  App.
to Pet. for Cert. 164a; Complaint in Jarkesy v. U. S. SEC, 
No. 1:14–cv–00114 (DDC, Jan. 29, 2014), ECF Doc. 1, ¶49,
pp. 12–13.    Over  Mr.  Jarkesy’s  protest  that  it  would  take 
“two lawyers or paralegals working twelve-hour days over
four decades to review,” ibid., the ALJ gave Mr. Jarkesy 10
months to prepare for his hearing, see App. to Pet. for Cert.
156a.  Then, after conducting that hearing, the ALJ turned 
around and obtained from the Commission “an extension of