Case Summaries
Aposhian v. Garland
CASE SUMMARY – Firearms instructor W. Clark Aposhian of Utah is a law-abiding citizen, but under the “Bump-Stock-Type Devices” Final Rule, on March 26th, 2019, he would have become a felon subject to a 10-year prison sentence unless he…
Cargill v. Garland
CASE SUMMARY – May a federal agency rewrite a federal statute? May that rewrite turn otherwise innocent Americans into criminals overnight?
Cato Institute, Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. Cardona
CASE SUMMARY – The Department of Education announced a plan to cancel $39 billion in federal student loan debt by counting three years of forbearance granted to 804,000 borrowers as time spent making monthly payments…
Choice Refrigerants v. EPA and Regan
CASE SUMMARY – The Environmental Protection Agency is picking and choosing which companies are allowed to produce and sell hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)—refrigeration chemicals commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners…
Cerame v. Bowler
CASE SUMMARY – Connecticut has adopted an amendment to its Rules of Professional conduct for Connecticut-licensed lawyers that includes unconstitutional and impermissibly vague language governing speech by lawyers.
CFPB v. Law Offices of Crystal Moroney
CASE SUMMARY – The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a lawsuit challenging the funding mechanism for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as unconstitutional…
Changizi v. HHS
CASE SUMMARY – By instrumentalizing tech companies, including Twitter—through pressure, coercion, and threats—to censor viewpoints that the federal executive has deemed “misinformation,” the Surgeon General has turned Twitter’s censorship into state action. The Government’s policy of pressuring Twitter and other tech companies to censor the Plaintiffs should be halted immediately, and this RFI must be set aside.
Cochran v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – James Madison once said that the concentration of all government powers in one branch is “the very definition of tyranny.” Yet, today, administrative agencies regularly exercise all three of those powers…
Doe v. PCAOB
CASE SUMMARY – Plaintiff John Doe (a pseudonym used to protect his anonymity) seeks to stop PCAOB from continuing its unlawful and unconstitutional disciplinary proceedings. The Board’s massive investigative, prosecutorial, and pseudo-judicial powers are largely unchecked. After years of intrusive investigation, PCAOB can impose severe punitive sanctions against individual accountants and accounting firms…
Dressen v. Flaherty
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA has filed a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s ongoing efforts to work in concert with social media companies and the Stanford Internet Observatory’s Virality Project to monitor and censor online support groups catering to those injured by Covid vaccines. This sprawling censorship enterprise has combined the efforts of numerous federal agencies and government actors...
Felkner v. Nazarian
CASE SUMMARY – State courts have invoked the “qualified immunity” doctrine to prevent Rhode Island College officials from facing civil liabilities for violating a student’s First Amendment rights.
Fredricks v. CIGIE
CASE SUMMARY – For three years, Joseph V. Cuffari, a Presidentially-appointed and Senate-confirmed Inspector General (IG) has been endlessly harassed and had his office’s resources drained by a series of baseless inquiries headed by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s (CIGIE) Integrity Committee (IC)…
FTC v. PPO
CASE SUMMARY – The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in its initial filing before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, has falsely accused Precision Patient Outcomes, Inc. (PPO) and CEO Margrett Lewis of unlawfully marketing and selling a dietary supplement called COVID Resist. The problem for FTC is PPO and Ms. Lewis never sold such a product—and FTC knows that…
gh Package Product Testing and Consulting, Inc. v. Buttigieg
CASE SUMMARY – DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) launched an administrative enforcement proceeding against NCLA’s client, gh Package Product Testing and Consulting, Inc., which tests packages used to safely transport hazardous materials. PHMSA claims the company submitted test reports…
Harper v. Rettig
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA represents James Harper. His “crime”? Holding a bitcoin wallet. The lawsuit argues that the IRS has acquired the unbridled power to demand and seize Americans’ private financial information from third parties without any judicial process…
Hennis v. U.S.
CASE SUMMARY – Easily one of the largest environmental catastrophes EPA ever created, the incident became known as “the yellow river seen round the world.” NCLA filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, challenging the government’s physical invasion, occupancy, use, taking, and contamination of Mr. Hennis’s property.
Høeg v. Newsom
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA represents five physicians licensed by the Medical Board of California (MBC), most of whom treat patients on a regular basis. Drs. Hoeg, Duriseti, Kheriaty, Mazolewski, and Khatibi allege Assembly Bill (AB) 2098, signed into law on September 30, 2022, violates their First Amendment rights to free speech and their Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process of law.
IHMPACT v. Buttigieg
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a lawsuit against Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg for revoking Department of Transportation (DOT) rules that expanded and protected due process during agency enforcement actions. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of the Institute for Hazardous Materials Packaging and Certification Testing, Inc.
Lemelson v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – May the SEC punish commentary about publicly traded corporations that contains a few purported misstatements or omissions when a jury has cleared the accused of all fraud and deception charges? Surprisingly perhaps, the Supreme Court has never answered this question…
Lujan v. U.S. Department of Education
CASE SUMMARY – The Department of Education systematically discriminates on the basis of Fulbright-Hays applicants’ nation of origin. Nothing in the Fulbright-Hays Act authorizes the Department of Education to penalize U.S. students who speak a foreign language as part of their national heritage for the purpose of awarding financial scholarships.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. U.S. Department of Education
CASE SUMMARY – In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Congress lawfully suspended monthly payment obligations and interest accrual on federally held student loans for a period limited to six months. When that statutory deferment period expired in September 2020, however, the department unilaterally extended it without congressional appropriation.
MagnetSafety.org v. CPSC
CASE SUMMARY – The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a draconian new “magnet safety standard” for non-toy products, which broadly bans high-powered hobby magnets for adults. CPSC relied on flawed studies and failed, contrary to the Consumer Product Safety Act, to properly account for magnets’ benefits or the costs of removing them from the market. More fundamentally, CPSC is unconstitutionally structured, because it is an independent agency exercising executive power outside the President’s control.
Metal Conversion Technologies, LLC v. United States Department of Transportation
CASE SUMMARY – An official at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration civilly penalized Metal Conversion Technologies for allegedly violating Hazardous Materials Regulations, despite not being properly appointed…
Mexican Gulf Fishing Company v. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
CASE SUMMARY – The U.S. government is trying to force charter boats and companies that take customers fishing and sightseeing in the Gulf of Mexico to purchase a vessel monitoring system (VMS). Federal agencies will use the VMS tracking devices to monitor boats’ movements…
Missouri v. Biden
CASE SUMMARY – Public statements, emails, and publicly released documents establish that the President of the United States and other senior officials in the Biden Administration violated the First Amendment by directing social-media companies to censor viewpoints that conflicted with the government’s messaging on Covid-19.
Murphy, Murphy, and Gounaud v. SEC
Case Summary – Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalties have exploded in size in recent years, in large part because the agency ignores statutory penalty caps Congress set in 1990. SEC civil penalties have become wildly inconsistent and unpredictable from case to case, depriving regulated parties of any semblance of fair notice about the potential consequences of their behavior.
National Center for Public Policy Research v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is receiving pushback over its recent approval of Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rules, which require all companies listed on the exchange to not only publicly disclose board diversity statistics but also explain failures to meet new diversity requirements. NCLA is representing the National Center for Public Policy Research…
Newman v. Moore
CASE SUMMARY – Without citing any legal authority and prior to the conclusion of any investigation, Chief Judge Moore removed Judge Newman from new hearing cases for an indefinite period. She also impeded Judge Newman’s access to court chambers…
NCLA v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is dragging its feet in providing access to records concerning “a control deficiency,” where agency enforcement staff illegally downloaded and gained access to privileged adjudicative documents. The agency has admitted this breach occurred in two adjudicatory matters, SEC v. Michelle Cochran and Jarkesy v. SEC, both major cases challenging the constitutionality of SEC’s administrative proceedings, as well as other cases.
Norris v. Michigan State University
CASE SUMMARY – Jeanna Norris is a supervisory Administrative Associate and Fiscal Officer at Michigan State University (MSU). She naturally acquired immunity to COVID-19, recovering from the virus. However, the university has threatened disciplinary action, even termination, if she and other employees do not comply with the school’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy.
Relentless v. Department of Commerce
CASE SUMMARY – The suit challenges the agencies’ unconstitutional and statutorily unauthorized effort to force fishing companies to pay for a new agency enforcement program. NCLA represents Relentless Inc., Huntress Inc. and their related company, Seafreeze Fleet LLC, in this facial challenge to DOC/NOAA’s newly promulgated rule…
Reid v. James Madison University
CASE SUMMARY – Ms. Reid was a nationally recognized debater employed by JMU as a full-time faculty member and Assistant Director of the “Individual Events Team” to assist with coaching, tournament travel, and community outreach. She was on track to obtain her dream job as head coach of the team. In December 2018, Ms. Reid’s ex-girlfriend, a fellow coach at JMU, lodged an unfounded and ambiguous “Title IX Statement” against Ms. Reid with JMU.
Rodden v. Fauci
CASE SUMMARY – Federal workers with naturally acquired immunity to COVID-19 filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer, the U.S. government, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci and other members of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, the group designated to act as the intermediate enforcer of the executive order mandating that all federal employees get vaccinated.
SEC v. Novinger
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a Motion for Relief from Judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on behalf of Mr. Novinger and ICAN, challenging the constitutionality of the SEC Gag Order that continues to hold them—and the truth—hostage.
SEC v. Spartan Securities Group
CASE SUMMARY – The SEC alleges that market-makers Spartan, and transfer agent Island, were involved in filing Form 211 applications with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to publicly list 19 issuers’ common stock to be traded and available to investors.
Schemel v. City of Marco Island
CASE SUMMARY – Everyone entering or exiting Marco Island be warned: the city is keeping tabs on you. NCLA filed this lawsuit to stop warrantless searches and the ongoing violation of every driver’s right to privacy. NCLA represents Shannon Schemel, Stephen Overman, and Michael Tschida, who claim Marco Island and its Chief of Police have continuously monitored their movements into and out of the city for months using automated license plate recognition (ALPR) systems installed at each of the island’s bridges.
Skoly v. McKee
CASE SUMMARY – Arbitrary and irrational government mandates responding to the COVID-19 pandemic deprived millions of patients across the country of much-needed medical care. The State of Rhode Island provides a particularly acute example of such devastating unintended consequences. The Rhode Island Department of Health shut down an oral surgery practice that was taking care of over 800 patients per month, plus state psychiatric hospital patients and state prison inmates.
U.S. v. Lesh
CASE SUMMARY – Colorado resident David Lesh faces six months’ probation, 160 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine for posting a photo on his personal Instagram account that allegedly depicted him snowmobiling over a jump at a closed ski resort. Mr. Lesh, who owns an outdoor apparel company, was charged pursuant to an overbroad delegation by Congress, that allows the U.S. Forest Service to make it a crime to sell merchandise or engage in commercial activity on its land without authorization.
Vanderstelt v. Biden
CASE SUMMARY – The Plaintiffs in this lawsuit seek judicial relief from the unlawful and unconstitutional Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate. Two subclasses are being sought within the class-action suit, one for naturally immune contractor employees and one for remote workers.
Vengalattore v. Cornell University
CASE SUMMARY – Dr. Vengalattore was a tenure-track professor of physics at Cornell University with an impressive history of conducting ground-breaking research. After a graduate student left his program for academic reasons, the student falsely accused Dr. Vengalattore of sexual harassment…
Wildchild Stockholm, Inc.
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA sent a formal letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission detailing how CPSC, and Commissioner Richard Trumka in particular, have severely violated the constitutional and statutory rights of NCLA client Wildchild Stockholm, Inc. Wildchild, founded by mom and entrepreneur Lisa Furuland Kotsianis, designs and imports the award-winning, Scandinavian-inspired DockATot® Deluxe+ docks…
Wright v. Massachusetts Department of Public Health
CASE SUMMARY – The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) worked with Google to auto-install spyware on the smartphones of more than one million Commonwealth residents, without their knowledge or consent, in a misguided effort to combat Covid-19.
More Case Summaries are coming soon. For information on all our cases visit NCLA’s Legal Action page.
Closed Cases
Asphalt Specialties v. Laramie County Planning Commission
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA pushed back against the Laramie County Planning Commission with an appeal challenging the Commission’s unlawful decision to treat a mere “vision” document like restrictive zoning rules. The Commission did not comply with statutory requirements for zoning.
Baldwin v. U.S.
CASE SUMMARY – Howard and Karen Baldwin, who produced the critically acclaimed movie Ray(2004) based on Ray Charles’ life, had filed a claim for the refund of their 2005 income tax. Four months before the deadline to claim a refund, they mailed a refund claim to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to recover approximately $168,000 in overpaid taxes by regular United States mail…
Broadway v. U.S.
CASE SUMMARY – Mr. Broadway challenged the lower court’s use of “Stinson deference” to sentence him as a “career offender” based on language in interpretive commentary issued by the United States Sentencing Commission that does not appear in the Sentencing Guidelines themselves.
Brown v. CDC
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA’s complaint asked the court to stop the agency from enforcing the unlawful order that—among other problems—violated the right to access the courts, exceeded limits on the Supremacy Clause, raised serious non-delegation doctrine concerns, and implicated anti-commandeering principles and precedents.
Buffington v. McDonough
CASE SUMMARY – Mr. Buffington, who suffered service-connected disability (tinnitus) while serving for the U.S. Air Force, sought disability benefits in a lawsuit against…
Carmen’s Corner Store v. Small Business Administration
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. NCLA represented Altimont Mark Wilks, a small business owner from Hagerstown, Md., who was unlawfully barred from applying for PPP loans because he was still on probation. The suit challenged unlawful portions of the agency’s Interim Final Rule purporting…
Cato Institute v. Department of Education
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a lawsuit on behalf of its client, the Cato Institute, urging the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas to stop the Biden Administration’s student-loan-debt-cancellation plan.
Choice Refrigerants v. EPA
CASE SUMMARY – The Environmental Protection Agency is picking and choosing which companies are allowed to produce and sell hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigeration chemicals commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners using power that Congress wrongly handed the agency in legislation designed to gradually…
Desrosiers v. Baker
CASE SUMMARY – In response to the serious health threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency under the Massachusetts Civil Defense Act to justify imposing draconian, “one-size-fits-all” measures across the Commonwealth…
FDRLST Media v. NLRB
CASE SUMMARY – This was a case of whether a random person on Twitter could claim ‘unfair labor practice’ because a Tweet did not sit well with them. Individuals who are not directly impacted by the consequences of a comment on social media should not be allowed to co-opt the…
Fleming v. The Daily Wire
CASE SUMMARY – In a victory for social media users everywhere, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cleared Ben Shapiro, Co-Founder and Editor Emeritus of The Daily Wire, of a meritless charge. A random Twitter user had claimed that Mr. Shapiro violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) when he posted a satirical tweet about a current news event. NCLA successfully defended The Daily Wire, LLC during pre-complaint investigations conducted by NLRB, resulting in a dismissal of the charge.
Fleming v. USDA
CASE SUMMARY – A two-judge majority of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit erred when it refused to address the constitutionality of the multiple layers of for-cause removal protection enjoyed by administrative law judges (ALJs) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The court remanded the issue back to USDA…
Gibson v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – The case of Christopher M. Gibson v. SEC. Mr. Gibson’s case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was disturbingly similar to scores of cases where that agency insists on putting people through pointless administrative proceedings…
Gubbels v. USDA
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a complaint and a motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. The case, Kevin Gubbels and Insure My Honey, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Risk Management Agency, was filed against the U.S. Department of Agriculture…
In re Marian P. Young and Saving2Retire, LLC
CASE SUMMARY – For more than seven years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inspected, investigated, and prosecuted Marian Young and her former investment business Saving2Retire, LLC
Johnson v. Murphy
CASE SUMMARY – New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy chose economic winners and losers with Executive Order No. 128 (EO 128), an unconstitutional mandate forcing residential housing providers to credit tenants’ security deposits toward rent payments.
KC Tenants v. Byrn
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a Motion to Intervene and a response in opposition to the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. NCLA’s representation gave a voice to Missouri housing providers who were sidelined and suffering significant harm due to unpaid rent and monthly maintenance costs.
Kravitz v. Murphy
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed the complaint against Governor Murphy in the Cumberland County Superior Court of New Jersey, challenging Executive Order No. 128. The order, which NCLA also challenging on federal constitutional ground in Johnson v. Murphy, also violated the New Jersey Constitution by re-writing private contracts and the state’s landlord-tenant laws.
Lucia v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a complaint seeking declarative and injunctive relief against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in the case of Ray Lucia and his…
Martinez-Brooks v. Garland
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA sought to obtain declaratory relief and to halt DOJ’s effort to disregard prior court decisions on prison alternatives for nonviolent and medically vulnerable people.
Mas Canosa v. Coral Gables
CASE SUMMARY – Coral Gables is an upscale, historic municipality of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Residents take pride in their tree-lined streets and so they call it “City Beautiful.” But the city has lined the streets with Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs)…
McArthur v. Brabrand
CASE SUMMARY – A second-grade student at Sunrise Valley Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia, was arbitrarily and unlawfully prevented from attending school, in violation of her federal and state Constitutional rights to Equal Protection and Due Process, as well as her right to receive an education under the Virginia State Constitution
Milice v. Consumer Product Safety Commission
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed an opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on behalf of client Lisa Milice against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). NCLA helped Milice, a new mother, challenge CPSC’s practice of keeping consumer product safety standards hidden behind a private paywall.
Mossman v. CDC
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa on behalf of Asa Mossman of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and many other blameless housing providers left powerless against the CDC’s lawless order.
MoveCorp v. Small Business Administration
CASE SUMMARY – The outbreak of COVID-19 and the government’s response to that virus decimated the American economy. To help mitigate the economic damage and keep small businesses afloat during these unprecedented times, the United States Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act…
New Mexico v. Maggie Toulouse Oliver
CASE SUMMARY – In 2017, the New Mexico Legislature passed Senate Bill 96 (SB96), but Governor Susana Martinez promptly vetoed it. On the very same day of the Governor’s veto, New Mexico’s Secretary of State declared that she would make the policies and provisions of SB96 law through rulemaking…
Phillip B. v. Faust
CASE SUMMARY – Mr. B. worked as a caregiver at New Horizons, a group home housing male children. On the morning of June 23, 2018, Mr. B. and Mr. Lam L., another caregiver employed by New Horizons, were on duty at the group home when an alleged child-abuse incident occurred relating to G.C., a 13-year-old resident of the group home…
Polyweave Packaging v. Department of Transportation
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA contended that the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) exceeded its authority under a statute allowing imposition of a civil penalty in response to “knowingly violating” the Hazardous Material Regulations.
Polyweave Packaging v. Buttigieg
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a lawsuit against Transportation Secretary Peter Buttigieg for revoking Department of Transportation (DOT) rules that expanded and protected due process during agency enforcement actions. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky on behalf of Polyweave Packaging, Inc.
R-CALF USA v. USDA
CASE SUMMARY – Federal agencies have exponentially expanded their authority by engaging in the common-place tactic of issuing informal interpretations, fact sheets, and other forms of “guidance,” the practical outcome of which is to surreptitiously force the regulated community to comply with a variety of “policy positions” that are not legally mandatory…
Romeril v. SEC
CASE SUMMARY – When Barry D. Romeril settled with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June of 2003 he didn’t know he would live to regret it 16 years later…
Shipp v. Bureau of Prisons
CASE SUMMARY – In December 2018, the president signed the First Step Act into law. The act was a bi-partisan criminal justice reform bill, that, among other things increased the amount of merit time deductions from his sentence a federal prisoner could earn each year for good behavior…
Taha v. United States
CASE SUMMARY – Mr. Mohamed E. Taha (deceased) and his widow Ms. Sanaa M. Yassin filed a tax refund claim seeking refund of taxes paid in 2002, 2003, and 2004. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claimed it never received the filing. The Court of Federal Claims conducted a trial on the question of whether Mr. Ali Taha (who is authorized to act on behalf of his deceased brother and his brother’s wife) had mailed the tax refund claim to IRS…
The Property Management Connection v. Uejio
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a lawsuit and motion for temporary restraining order against CFPB in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee for doubling down on the unlawful Halt Order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in September 2020. NCLA represent The Property Management Connection, LLC, attorney Gordon Schoeffler, and the National Association of Residential Property Managers.
Walsh v. Hodge
CASE SUMMARY – NCLA filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the Fifth Circuit’s expansion of the qualified immunity doctrine and thereby to resolve two separate splits of authority in the federal courts of appeals.
Zywicki v. GMU
CASE SUMMARY – George Mason University (GMU) threatened students, faculty, and staff with disciplinary action that includes “unpaid leave or possible loss of employment” for faculty if they didn’t comply with the public university’s vaccine mandate. NCLA filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of Antonin Scalia Law School Professor Todd Zywicki.