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Amicus Briefs

Goldwater Institute v. HHS

CASE SUMMARY

The Constitution requires federal judges to exercise independent judgment and refrain from bias when interpreting the law. These are foundational constitutional requirements for having an independent judiciary. Article III gives federal judges life tenure and salary protection to ensure that judicial pronouncements will reflect a court’s independent judgment rather than the desires of the political branches. Also, the Due Process Clause forbids judges to display any type of bias in favor of or against a litigant when resolving disputes. These statements of judicial duty are so axiomatic that they are seldom if ever mentioned or relied upon in legal argument—because to even suggest that a court might depart from its duty of independent judgment or display bias toward a litigant would be a scandalous insinuation.

OUR TEAM

Mark Chenoweth
President and Chief Legal Officer
Margaret A. Little
Senior Litigation Counsel

RELEVANT MATERIALS

NCLA FILINGS

Decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

March 24, 2020 | Read More

Brief Amicus Curiae of the New Civil Liberties Alliance in Support of Plaintiff-Appellant and Reversal

July 17, 2019 | Read More

PRESS RELEASES

NCLA Asks Full Ninth Circuit to Decide that Police Theft During Execution of a Search Warrant Violates the Constitution in Jessop v. City of Fresno

May 14, 2019

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