Federal Trade Commission Drops Antitrust Case Against Axon
October 09 2023 - 8:49AM
Dow Jones News
By Dean Seal
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has dismissed its
administrative action against Axon Enterprise following a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling that permitted the company to challenge the
FTC's constitutionality in federal court.
The agency filed an order on Friday saying that in light of the
Supreme Court's April ruling, Axon's lawsuit challenging the FTC's
constitutionality is now back in federal court and would likely
result in years of additional litigation that would delay the
adjudication of the FTC's enforcement action.
"We have come to the difficult conclusion that the public
interest requires that this litigation no longer be continued," the
FTC said in the order.
Pam Petersen, Axon's vice president of litigation and counsel of
record in both the administrative and federal cases, said Monday
that the FTC's dismissal is intended to moot the police body-camera
maker's constitutionality claims and will resolve both cases.
The antitrust regulator launched an enforcement action against
Axon following its 2018 acquisition of competitor Vievu, prompting
Axon to file a lawsuit in 2020 that challenged the
constitutionality of the FTC's structure.
An Arizona federal court dismissed Axon's case, finding that it
didn't have jurisdiction under federal law to consider the claims
since the FTC's proceedings were already underway.
An appellate panel affirmed the ruling in a 2-1 vote, but Axon
lifted the case to the Supreme Court. In April, the high court
overturned the appellate decision and ruled that Axon's claims
could be heard by the federal district court.
"As I said from the beginning, no one should ever face the
prospect of a government that can demand to seize your most
precious assets without the ability to defend yourself in a fair
and impartial court of law," Axon Chief Executive Rick Smith
said.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 09, 2023 08:34 ET (12:34 GMT)
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