Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; July 2, 2026: Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed to hear a financial professional\u2019s challenge to the state\u2019s power to impose massive civil penalties without a jury trial. The court will consider whether the Pennsylvania Constitution required the state to provide Elliot Goldberg a jury trial before the Department of Banking and Securities imposed a $931,000 fine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Pennsylvania Constitution protects the right to a jury trial when the government seeks to impose significant monetary penalties,\u201d said Pacific Legal Foundation Senior Attorney Oliver Dunford, who represents Goldberg. \u201cThe court\u2019s decision to hear this case presents an important opportunity to clarify that the Commonwealth\u2019s constitutional guarantee does not allow state agencies to sidestep one of our oldest protections for individual liberty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Department of Banking and Securities\u2014despite the lack of any consumer complaint or loss\u2014accused Goldberg of violating the Pennsylvania Securities Act of 1972. Rather than bringing its case in a court of law, the Department investigated, prosecuted, and decided the matter through its own in-house tribunal\u2014imposing the nearly million-dollar penalty without ever presenting the allegations to a jury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bad enough that the Department\u2019s allegations are baseless,\u201d said client Elliot Goldberg. \u201cBut to find me liable without affording me my basic constitutional rights adds insult to injury. I look forward to vindicating my rights and the rights of all Pennsylvanians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article I, Section 6 of the Pennsylvania Constitution guarantees that the right to a jury trial \u201cshall . . . remain inviolate.\u201d By granting Goldberg\u2019s petition, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review whether that constitutional guarantee ensures a jury trial for claims like securities fraud. A ruling for Goldberg would confirm that Pennsylvanians facing financial punishment from a state agency are entitled to have their cases heard by juries, not by the same agencies that make the accusations in the first place.<\/p>\n