December 2024

Your support means everything to us, and as we step into 2025, we’re reflecting on the incredible strides made in 2024 thanks to your trust and generosity. This past year has been a testament to the power of your belief in our mission to defend our fundamental liberties.

This month, we released a powerful new video sharing the stories of NCLA clients Brianne Dressen, Nikki Holland, and Ernest Ramirez, whose voices were silenced by illegal government censorship. Their experiences highlight how the federal government pressured social media platforms to suppress support groups and conversations about vaccine injuries, violating Americans’ First Amendment liberties.

In addition, don’t miss an insightful discussion with NCLA attorneys Peggy Little and Sheng Li as they unpack our pivotal victory in National Center for Public Policy Research v. SEC, where the Fifth Circuit struck down Nasdaq’s unlawful board diversity quotas. This decision not only reaffirmed the limits of SEC’s authority but also set a crucial precedent for curbing agency-driven initiatives that ignore legal boundaries.

We secured a major victory in the Fifth Circuit, which struck down Nasdaq’s unconstitutional board diversity rules. The court’s decision focused entirely on the statutory case NCLA made, agreeing that the rules were legally defective and exceeded the SEC’s authority.

Additionally, NCLA convinced a federal court to stop the Department of Labor’s unlawful attack on wage and overtime exemptions, pressured the Department of Education to abandon its illegal student debt cancellation plans, urged the D.C. Circuit to end an unconstitutional campaign against Judge Pauline Newman, and petitioned the Supreme Court to restore every American’s fundamental right to a jury trial.

Your contributions empower our team to keep fighting for your liberties. Thank you for being part of the New Civil Liberties Alliance. Keep scrolling to learn more about these cases and everything else happening at NCLA!

The Latest

NCLA clients from L to R: Ernest Ramirez, Brianne Dressen, and Nikki Holland.

WATCH: Government Censors Victims of Covid Vaccine Injuries

NCLA is leading the Dressen, et al. v. Flaherty lawsuit against the federal government and Stanford’s efforts to pressure and collaborate with social media companies to monitor and censor people discussing Covid vaccines on social media—including online support groups for vaccine injury victims. A newly-released video details how this illegal censorship campaign has silenced the voices of NCLA clients Brianne Dressen, Nikki Holland, and Ernest Ramirez, among others, violating their core constitutional rights.

Neither SEC nor Nasdaq has any business regulating the composition of corporate boards along these controversial demographic dimensions.

How NCLA Stopped Nasdaq and the SEC from Dictating Diversity Rules for Corporate Boards

Join an insightful discussion with NCLA attorneys Peggy Little and Sheng Li as they unpack NCLA’s pivotal victory in the National Center for Public Policy Research v. SEC case. The Fifth Circuit’s decision in AFBR/NCPPR v. SEC struck down the SEC’s controversial board diversity quotas for Nasdaq-listed companies, deeming them unlawful under the Exchange Act. Peggy and Sheng walk through NCLA’s winning legal arguments, including how the court used a rigorous statutory analysis to reaffirm the limits of SEC’s authority, applied the Major Questions Doctrine to protect the role of Congress, and largely disregarded constitutional objections to the quotas. NCLA’s attorneys also explore the victory’s broader implications for corporate governance, investor protections, and the enforcement of other SEC rules. This conversation explains why this case marks a turning point for reining in agency-driven initiatives that ignore legal boundaries. Watch here >>>

Cases to Watch

The en banc Fifth Circuit has now agreed with NCLA for the third time in the last three years.

NCLA Persuades en Banc Fifth Circuit to Vacate Legally Defective Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules

NCLA convinced the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in National Center for Public Policy Research v. Securities and Exchange Commission to vacate SEC’s approval of Nasdaq’s “Board Diversity Rules,” which the agency lacked statutory authority to do. These Rules imposed gender, race and sexual orientation quotas on corporate board membership for Nasdaq-listed companies, compelling those that failed to meet their board seat quotas to explain why or face involuntary delisting from the stock exchange. Following NCLA’s brief, the en banc Circuit ruled that the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 does not permit these rules to be promulgated. Read more >>>

This is a major ruling in First Amendment standing law.

Second Circuit Revives NCLA’s Lawsuit Against Ethics Rule Muzzling Connecticut Attorneys’ Speech

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of Cerame v. Slack, an NCLA lawsuit challenging a Connecticut Rule of Professional Conduct that imposes a content- and viewpoint-based speech restriction. Rule 8.4(7) defines “professional misconduct” by a Connecticut attorney as including speech that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know “is harassment or discrimination on the basis of” any of 15 listed characteristics—among them race, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. NCLA represents Connecticut-licensed attorneys Mario Cerame and Tim Moynahan, who have felt compelled to censor their own speech to reduce their risk of facing charges under the Rule. NCLA looks forward to pursuing our case against this unconstitutional rule on remand. Read more >>>

NCLA Convinces Federal Court to Stop DOL’s Illegal Undermining of Wage and Overtime Exemption

NCLA persuaded the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to grant summary judgment in Flint Avenue v. Department of Labor, vacating a DOL rule that exceeded the agency’s statutory authority. The rule had set a $58,656 minimum-salary requirement for determining whether “white collar” employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime requirements. In so doing, DOL’s Rule would have unlawfully prevented employers, including countless small businesses, from claiming the exemption for millions of white-collar employees nationwide who are paid less than the new salary requirement. NCLA and its client Flint Avenue, LLC celebrate this important victory for American small businesses and the rule of law. Read more >>>

Juries are vital checks on legislative, prosecutorial, and judicial power, but the petty-offense exception strips that protection from many defendants.

NCLA Asks Supreme Court to Hear Case to Overturn “Petty-Offense Exception” to Jury-Trial Right

NCLA retained the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic to petition the Supreme Court to hear David Lesh v. United States. On behalf of Mr. Lesh, NCLA seeks to overturn the Court’s unjust precedent that directly contradicts the explicit language of the Constitution by denying individuals charged with “petty offenses” their right to a jury trial. This precedent led the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit to rule that NCLA client David Lesh was not deprived of his constitutional jury-trial right when prosecuted and convicted for violating U.S. Forest Service (USFS) regulations. The Supreme Court should take this opportunity to eliminate the “petty-offense exception.” Read more >>>

Judge Newman’s indefinite, complete suspension is unprecedented in American judicial history.

NCLA Asks D.C. Circuit to Rule Against Unlawful Suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman

NCLA filed an opening brief urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to reverse a district court judgment that upheld the ongoing illegal suspension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman. Without due process, the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit indefinitely removed Judge Newman from hearing new cases in March 2023 before beginning any formal investigation into her fitness for office, which violated the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act that the Council purported to be applying. The Judicial Council suspended her for a year in September 2023, extending the suspension for another year in September 2024. Representing Judge Newman, NCLA demands an end to this unconstitutional campaign that has functionally removed a sitting Article III judge from office. Read more >>>

We are happy to see that the Department is withdrawing these two latest unlawful loan cancellation plans.

After NCLA Pressure, Department of Education Scraps Some Illegal Student Debt Cancellation Plans

As NCLA requested, the U.S. Department of Education announced the withdrawal of proposed rules that would have combined to unconstitutionally cancel more than $250 billion of federal student loan debt owed to the Treasury. NCLA had submitted comments in May 2024 and again in December urging the Department to abandon these plans, pointing out that Congress has repeatedly declined to erase such debt, and the Department lacks legal authority to do so unilaterally. NCLA celebrates this important victory in preventing abuse of executive power. Read more >>>

The Constitution demands that cases like Father Lemelson’s be tried in neutral federal courts with juries.

NCLA Asks D.C. Court to Block SEC’s Illegal “Rubber-Stamp” Enforcement Proceeding

NCLA has filed an Amended Complaint and asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for a preliminary injunction to stop the Securities and Exchange Commission’s illegitimate “follow-on” enforcement proceeding against Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Lemelson. A Massachusetts federal jury in 2021 rejected nearly all of SEC’s baseless charges against Father Lemelson, an ordained Greek Orthodox priest and activist investor, including all of its incendiary allegations that he engaged in a scheme to defraud the market and even his own fund investors. Yet SEC is now threatening to bar or suspend him from the securities industry using its own “follow-on” administrative proceeding, in which SEC has appointed itself as the judge and jury. Read more >>>

Click here for more cases to watch

Friends of the Court

Congress cannot avoid this constitutional command simply by stripping courts of jurisdiction to hear such claims in the first place.

NCLA Amicus Brief Asks Fifth Circuit to Overturn Banking Administration Board’s Denial of Jury Trial

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief in Moats v. National Credit Union Administration Board urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reverse an order depriving former Texas credit union CEO Jeffrey Moats of a jury trial. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) prosecuted and punished Mr. Moats for alleged misconduct in its in-house tribunal overseen by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) it appointed. NCLA asks the Fifth Circuit to correct this violation of core constitutional rights. Read more >>>

The CTA mandates that organizations that have filed for incorporation under state law submit detailed reports which include sensitive information to the Department of the Treasury.

NCLA Amicus Brief Asks Fifth Circuit to Uphold Block on Unconstitutional Corporate Transparency Act

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Garland urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to reject the government’s request to stay a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). The government cannot be allowed to maintain this unconstitutional statute, which stretches beyond Congress’s proper authority to regulate Americans. Read more >>>

Accountability is the price FDA must pay for the enormous power it wields over both individuals and businesses.

NCLA Amicus Brief Asks Supreme Court to Read Judicial Review Statute Broadly, as Congress Wrote It

NCLA filed an amicus curiae brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Respondents in Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company. NCLA’s brief urges the Justices to reject FDA’s effort to insulate itself from accountability. Even though the law allows “any person adversely affected” by an FDA order to challenge the agency’s decision in court, FDA oddly claims vaping retailers are not adversely affected by a ban on sale of vaping products. It is asking the Supreme Court to restrict that right to only parties to the agency proceedings. NCLA’s brief explains how this limit would conflict with the controlling statute as well as Supreme Court precedent. Read more >>>

Suspending an Article III judge from all judicial functions of her office is unconstitutional.

Retired Judges’ Amicus Brief Supports Judge Newman in NCLA Suit Against Her Suspension

Six retired federal judges have filed an amicus curiae brief in Newman v. Moore supporting the unlawfully suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, who is represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance. The Hon. Janice Rogers Brown (D.C. Circuit), Hon. Paul Michel (Federal Circuit), Hon. Randall Rader (Federal Circuit), Hon. Thomas Vanaskie (Third Circuit), Hon. Paul Cassell (District of Utah), and Hon. Susan Braden (Federal Claims) ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to render judgment for Judge Newman in the lawsuit challenging her unconstitutional suspension from the bench. NCLA thanks these eminent jurists for their courage and demands an end to the illegal campaign that has functionally removed a sitting Article III judge from office. Read more >>>

Click here for more amicus briefs to watch.

In the News

🎥 NCLA files lawsuit about weighted infant sleep sacks, Fox 5 Washington DC

📰 The Stakes for Speech of Trump’s Civil Verdict, WSJ Opinion Piece by Philip Hamburger

📰 Appeals Court Strikes Down Nasdaq’s Board-Diversity Rules, The Wall Street Journal

📰 US Appeals Court Vacates Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule, The Epoch Times

📰 5th Circ. Tosses SEC’s OK Of Nasdaq’s Board Diversity Rule, Law 360

📰 US appeals court tosses Nasdaq board diversity rules, Reuters

📰 Appeals court revives lawyer conduct suit, Inside Investigator

📰 NCLA Achieves Court Win Against DOL’s Salary Regulations, Investors Hangout

📰 Nasdaq’s DEI requirements for listed companies struck down, The Christian Post

📰 Federal judge who refuses mental evaluation at age 97 fights suspension, Fox News