Jamie Leach asks Supreme Court to block CPSC’s unconstitutional in-house tribunal

Washington, DC; August 9, 2024: Jamie Leach, founder of a small family-owned business from Ada, Oklahoma, has asked the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) in-house adjudication process. Jamie argues that the agency’s adjudication violates the Constitution’s separation of powers.

“The CPSC’s in-house tribunal process makes the commission prosecutor, judge, jury, and appellate court, undermining fundamental due process rights,” said Oliver Dunford, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “Since day one, the CPSC has stacked the deck against Jamie and Leachco. We look forward to vindicating their constitutional rights, and we hope the Supreme Court will intervene.”

The Administrative Law Judge who oversaw the initial in-house tribunal dismissed the CPSC’s case against Leachco as without merit. But the agency has appealed that decision to the very commissioners who authorized its prosecution.

In July, the Supreme Court ruled in SEC v. Jarkesy that the SEC can’t impose civil penalties on defendants without allowing them a jury trial. The same principle should apply in Leachco’s case. Government agencies should not be able to punish people or companies without giving them a hearing in a fair court, overseen by a neutral judge, with fixed rules of evidence and procedure, and a jury of their peers.

“We’re fighting for our right to a fair trial and to protect our business from arbitrary government actions,” said Jamie Leach, co-founder of Leachco, Inc. “When the government stacks the deck against you, it’s nearly impossible to fight back on your own. No one should face what we have faced.”

A former nurse, Jamie started the company in 1988 with the “Wiggle Wrap” for her infant son. Since then, Leachco has developed scores of products for young families.

The case is Leachco, Inc. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission.