Law & Courts

WASHINGTON — On October 14 the Supreme Court issued an unsigned per curiam order in FCC v. Brown (No. 26A476) staying a Fourth Circuit mandamus order. The appeals court had required the Federal Communications Commission to resolve an application for review within 48 hours. The justices said that order improperly interfered with the Commission's discretion over the timing and procedures of its deliberations. The dispute concerns discounted broadcast ad rates for political parties and party committees. Democratic candidates had asked the justices to leave the appeals court ruling in place, according to SCOTUSblog. Another report on the order said Justices Sotomayor and Jackson would have denied the stay, but that account was not independently confirmed from the Court's own materials. The merits appeal continues in the lower courts.

MEMPHIS — U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. on Thursday, October 15, dissolved the temporary restraint he issued in late June against Tennessee's takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. He acted days after the nine-member state Educational Oversight Board told the court it was ready to perform its duties. Under the Public School Accountability Act, the board can override major district decisions, including adopting budgets, closing schools and appointing a superintendent. The elected district board would serve in an advisory role. Board chair Billy Orgel said the body is ready to begin work. District board chair Tamarques Porter said he disagrees with the ruling and that the legal process continues. The case challenging the takeover remains pending, and no further hearings have been scheduled. Both sides will need to present evidence as it proceeds.

Federal courts are increasingly holding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's do-not-call private right of action does not reach text messages. The Seventh Circuit led in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services (July 14, 2026), finding that a "telephone call" in Section 227(c)(5) did not include texts in 1991. District courts in the Fourth Circuit and in Colorado, along with other courts, have followed. On September 11, Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida ruled that cell phone users are not "residential" subscribers for do-not-call claims. Texts remain actionable under the Section 227(b) autodialer and prerecorded-voice provisions. On October 1, the Southern District of Texas, in Taylor v. OffersPDQ, granted a default judgment on a 227(b) text claim but not on a 227(c) claim. California federal courts are cited as holdouts. Separately, the FCC has pushed the effective date of its revoke-all consent rule to January 31, 2027.