Opinion ID: 493663
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the PUC is a Person Within the Meaning of the Statute

Text: 15 The definitional section of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. Sec. 153, provides that: [U]nless the context otherwise requires.... 'Person' includes an individual, partnership, association, joint-stock company, trust, or corporation. Id. Sec. 153(i). The Act defines state commission as the commission, board, or official (by whatever name designated) which under the laws of any State has regulatory jurisdiction with respect to intrastate operations of carriers. Id. Sec. 153(t). 16 In support of their contention that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief because the PUC is not a person for purposes of Sec. 401(b), appellants principally rely on the Vermont district court's decision in New England Telephone & Telegraph Company v. Public Service Board of Vermont, 576 F.Supp. 490 (D.Vt.1983), vacated as moot, 794 F.2d 677 (2d Cir.1984). 6 In that case, the district court held that because the definition of person in Sec. 153(i) includes a series of specific categories that do not encompass state utility commissions, the term person should not be interpreted to include such commissions. New England Tel. & Tel., 576 F.Supp. at 493-95. 17 We disagree with appellants' argument and the district court's analysis in New England Tel. & Tel. The design of the statute leads us to conclude that the PUC itself is a person for purposes of Sec. 401(b) 7 . Section 153(i) does not specify the meaning of person in the Communications Act, but instead lists several categories of entities that the term includes. 8 Thus, the definition of person is open-ended and not restricted to the examples enumerated in the statute. 9 Furthermore, Sec. 153 expressly gives courts leeway to interpret terms in the Act [as] the context ... requires. 47 U.S.C. Sec. 153. 18 The purposes of Sec. 401(b) and the structure of the Act strongly suggest that the PUC can be enjoined under Sec. 401(b). 10 Section 401(b) is the sole mechanism Congress provided for the FCC, the federal government, or private parties to obtain enforcement of FCC orders against noncarriers. 11 Under appellants' interpretation, state regulatory commissions would be exempt from this statutory scheme. Rather than being required to challenge FCC orders under Sec. 402, 12 state commissions would be free to violate FCC orders with impunity. They would be equally immune to private enforcement actions and to enforcement actions brought by the FCC and the federal government. 19 State commissions have the same opportunity as others to seek review of FCC orders under Sec. 402. See, e.g., State Corporation Commission v. FCC, 787 F.2d 1421 (10th Cir.1986); New York State Commission on Cable TV v. FCC, 669 F.2d 58, 62 n. 8 (2d Cir.1982); North Carolina Utilities Commission v. FCC, 552 F.2d 1036 (4th Cir.), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 874, 98 S.Ct. 222, 54 L.Ed.2d 154 (1977). No logical ground supports excluding state commissions from the group of persons against whom enforcement of orders may be sought. New England Telephone & Telegraph Company v. Public Utilities Commission, 570 F.Supp. 1558, 1569 (D.Me.1983), rev'd on other grounds, 742 F.2d 1 (1st Cir.1984), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 106 S.Ct. 2902, 90 L.Ed.2d 988 (1986). Moreover, since Sec. 401(a), which authorizes district courts to enjoin violations of the Act itself, also contains the term person, state commissions would be immune from enforcement of the Act in general. 13 It is unlikely that Congress could have intended this result. 20 We hold that the PUC is a person for purposes of Sec. 401(b). 14 We also note that, even if the PUC does not itself constitute a person subject to a Sec. 401(b) enforcement action, the individual Commissioners clearly are individuals under Sec. 153(i). 15 Because the Commissioners qualify as persons for purposes of Sec. 401(b) injunctions, the district court would not lack subject matter jurisdiction even if the PUC were not a person. 21