United States v. Hodson Broadcasting

MEMORANDUM

Richard Hodson, a sole proprietor doing business as Hodson Broadcasting, operated a radio station without authority, in violation of 47 U.S.C. § 301 . The Federal Communications Commission imposed a $20,000 forfeiture and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney, who sued in district .court to recover the money. Hodson appeals from a grant of summary judgment for the United States, challenging both liability and the amount of the forfeiture, as well as the denial of leave to file an amended counterclaim. We review de novo the FCC’s determination that Hodson is liable. 47 U.S.C. § 504 (a). Because Hodson has appeared pro se throughout this litigation, we construe his arguments liberally, Thomas v. Ponder, 611 F.3d 1144, 1150 (9th Cir. 2010), but he must still “comply strictly with the summary judgment rules,” id. (citing Bias v. Moynihan, 508 F.3d 1212, 1219 (9th Cir. 2007)).

We observe at the threshold that the notices of apparent liability, the forfeiture order, and the U.S. Attorney’s complaint neglected to cite 47 U.S.C. § 301 as the basis for forfeiture. Instead, they cited 47 C.F.R. § 73.1620 , which does not create any enforceable duty. The erroneous citation…