(The Center Square) – The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments over whether Arizonans have a constitutional right to a jury trial when they face an accusation from a state agency.
The Arizona Corporation Commission filed an enforcement action in 2024 against EFG America, a rubber recycling company in Mesa.
The commission was alleging securities law violations, said attorney Adi Dynar of Pacific Legal Foundation, the law firm representing EFG America.
The commission was also seeking thousands of dollars in civil penalties and requested the company appear in front of the commission’s in-house administrative law judge.
“At that point, the company and its owners essentially asked the administrative law judge of the Arizona Corporation Commission to change the venue of the case,” Dynar told The Center Square. “In their view, the agency cannot deprive them of their property without asking a court and a jury to decide the merits of the underlying allegations they levied against the company and its owners.”
The administrative law judge denied the request. EFG America then asked the Arizona Court of Appeals to recognize the company’s right to a jury trial in these sorts of commission-initiated enforcement actions. The Arizona Court of Appeals later said jury trials are not available in this circumstance.
That’s when the Pacific Legal Foundation got involved. Foundation attorneys represented the company and its owners in front of the Arizona Supreme Court, asking justices to take the case. The Arizona Supreme Court granted the request. Dynar expects the oral argument to be in January or February. A ruling would most likely come by June or July.
Pacific Legal Foundation said it feels good about its chances. It noted both the Arizona Constitution and the U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment guarantee jury trials in civil cases where the government seeks monetary penalties. Dynar pointed to opinions from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch as reaffirming this principle.
Dynar noted Gorsuch noted jury rights “are fundamental checks and balances” in the U.S. and Arizona constitutions. He said the justice pointed to a check on the powers of prosecutors and judges and the importance of stopping “agency abuse in and out of courts.”
“I’m hopeful the Arizona Supreme Court will adopt and give us some much-needed clarity on what, if any, fundamental constitutional rights can be infringed upon by state agencies,” Dynar said.
Right now, Dynar said agencies “act as judges, juries, and prosecutors,” a one-stop shop for “violating the constitution in every aspect that you can think of” in people’s public lives.
“I am very heartened that the Arizona Supreme Court has taken up this case because it is a case of state-wide importance for sure,” said Dynar.
In an email to The Center Square, Arizona Corporation Commission Executive Director Douglas Clark argued the commission has followed its constitutional and legislatively granted authority to regulate securities.
“While jury trials have not been provided in enforcement actions in the past, and the legal necessity to do so was not present, the Commission will follow whatever the courts and the legislature ask it to do when it comes to enforcement actions,” Clark told The Center Square via email.
