6th Circuit Sets March 17 Oral Argument on FCC Municipal Broadband Case

A court set oral argument for March 17 on challenges to an FCC order pre-empting state restrictions on municipal broadband efforts. The consolidated case will be heard by a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, with the judges' names to be posted on a court calendar two weeks before the argument, said a short order Thursday (State of Tennessee, State of North Carolina v. FCC, Nos. 15-3291, 15-3555). Despite the scheduled hearing, the order said the judges, as they prepare for the case, could conclude oral argument isn't necessary.