Federal Trade Commission v. Burke

MEMORANDUM

Glen Burke appeals the district court’s order holding him in contempt of a stipulated permanent injunction issued in 1998 and requiring Burke to pay sanctions. We have jurisdiction over this final order under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse as to the portion of the order finding Burke in contempt based on his involvement in a direct-mail sweepstakes operation, for which he was fined $17,389,232.

Burke is subject to an injunction that prohibits him from, among other things, “[misrepresenting, in any manner, directly or by implication, or failing to disclose any fact material to a consumer’s decision to purchase any item, product, good, service, or investment.” The FTC filed two motions to hold Burke in contempt of this injunction: one based on a telemarketing operation, and one based on a sweepstakes operation. The district court granted both motions and imposed monetary sanctions. However, in its first order granting the motions to hold Burke in contempt, the district court held only that “[biased upon the Declarations and evidence adduced in the various motions and the arguments of counsel presented,” Burke was in contempt of the injunction. In a subsequent…