07:02 AM EDT, 06/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The US Supreme Court on Thursday limited the ability of the Securities and Exchange Commission and other government agencies to impose penalties using in-house administrative hearings rather than the court system.

The 6-3 ruling said the administrative hearings violated the constitutional right to a jury trial.

"A defendant facing a fraud suit has the right to be tried by a jury of his peers before a neutral adjudicator," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the prevailing opinion.

The SEC declined to address how the ruling would affect its enforcement program, the Wall St Journal reported.