Jury Trials vs. Administrative Power—Did the Third Circuit Misread Jarkesy?

In this episode of Unwritten Law, NCLA’s Mark Chenoweth and John Vecchione break down the recent Third Circuit decision in Axalta Coating Systems v. Federal Aviation Administration.

The case tests how lower courts apply the Supreme Court’s landmark Jarkesy ruling, which emphasized the importance of jury trials and Article III courts for administrative adjudications.

Mark and John explore why the panel sided with agency adjudication despite the Supreme Court’s warnings, discuss Judge Bibas’s powerful concurrence highlighting ongoing constitutional concerns, and analyze the troubling reliance on the expansive "public rights" doctrine. Will this decision prompt the Supreme Court to finally clarify—and potentially curb—the administrative state's adjudicative power?

Key topics: Jarkesy v. SEC, administrative adjudication, jury trial rights, Article III courts, public rights doctrine, nondelegation doctrine, Axalta v. FAA, and separation of powers.