U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Government Debt Exemption of TCPA

The long-awaited Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) decision from the U.S. Supreme Court related to the TCPA’s government debt exemption is finally here. Bottom line up front: arguing free speech principles, the Supreme Court struck down and severed the government debt exemption from the 2015 amendment of the TCPA.

[article_ad]

The case revolved around political and nonprofit organizations who wanted the TCPA ban on “robocalls” struck down so they could make political robocalls to cell phones. Their avenue to this was the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. These organizations argued that by treating government-backed debt collection calls different than other forms of speech, the TCPA violated the First Amendment.