FifthAmendment Securities Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri
Whether the federal court exceeded its Article III authority by initiating a sua sponte investigation into a defendant's compliance with a consent decree obtained by the SEC
question presented is: 1. Whether the issuance of an extraordinary writ of prohibition is required to remedy the district court’s assertion of “inherent authority” to initiate and conduct, sua sponte, in the absence of a case or controversy, an investigation into whether Petitioner has complied with two Consent Decree injunctions obtained by the SEC, and whether this supposed authority allows the district court, as part of its supervision of the auction of receivership assets, to conduct its own investigation, if Petitioner participates in the sale process. 2. Whether the sua sponte exercise of such coercive inquisitorial power: exceeds the Article III limits on the federal court’s jurisdiction; unconstitutionally usurps the Article II authority of the SEC; and, unduly interferes with Petitioner’s Fifth Amendment right to freely participate in the marketplace without undue governmental interference and in the scheduled auction on the same terms as any other participant.